


Insanity

by Zylo



Series: Insanity AU [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, sympathetic deceit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-01 21:13:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 28,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14529309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zylo/pseuds/Zylo
Summary: Insanity is bored and needs a new lab rat. Things go awry from there. AU





	1. Insanity's Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> The violence isn't too graphic in my opinion but better to err on the side of caution.

_'Hmm...bored, bored, bored. Stupid rat died before I could get to the electroshock; electroshock is the funnest part of my usual work! Well, at least it made a nice loud screech as it died.'_

  
Getting up from his chair the "doctor", known only as Insanity, went to the rat cages to fetch another. A scowl crossed his face at the sight before resuming its normal unsettling grin.

  
' _Out of rats again... Hmm, let's see what my options are then, shall we? I could go waltzing into the Imagination and retrieve some but I think that pretty boy Prince is starting to realize that something has been off there lately. Ooooh! Speaking of, I'd love to get him strapped to this table! It's been so long since I last had a human to experiment on. Anxiety was fun, until he escaped. Still trying to figure out how that happened. Besides, the pretty boy is one of those damn "Light Sides". Imagine what fun I could have with him...or even those other two for that matter._ '

  
A knock at the door sent his thoughts scattering.

  
"Insanity! Keep the fucking noise down for once!"

  
Insanity merely rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I will Anger. I'm... _sorry_."

  
Hearing Anger stomp away back to his own room, Insanity rolled his eyes, "Brainless brute."

  
As tempting as it was to use Anger as a lab rat, Insanity really didn't feel like having to risk his life at the moment.

  
' _So let's see, who does that leave me with? Anxiety is out of the question as is Anger, obviously. The Light Sides are tempting targets but that would require some proper planning ahead. That just leave me with..._ '

  
"Deceit."

* * *

  
"Wakey wakey!"

  
"Argh!" Insanity watched as Deceit yelled. Turns out stabbing someone in the hand was a good way to wake a person up.

  
"Heya buddy! Where ya been lately? It's like you've been hiding from me!"

  
Deceit visibly paled as he took in his surroundings and who it was that was talking to him. "I-Insanity! _Don't_ release me this instant!"

  
The doctor merely giggled as Deceit tugged at his restraints. Sure, the operating table may have just been a slab of wood he found in the Imagination but the restraints? He made those bad boys himself. " _Don't_? Okay, but you got to stop trying to escape then! There's so much fun to be had together!"

  
Ignoring his test subject's protests, Insanity went to retrieve something from a glass container. Upon further inspection, it was a small yellow and green snake; an unhappy one at that. Tsking, the doctor injected it with a small syringe of tranquilizer. Didn't need to get himself bitten after all.

  
Bringing the snake over so Deceit could see it, Insanity once again grinned. "Hey _Dee_ , I know you have a thing for snakes. That's why this is going to be so much _fun_ for both of us! I get to experiment on you and you get to have a closer connection to snakes in return! A win-win!"

  
Deceit's eyes widened as he began to struggle once more. His screams for Insanity to release him fell upon deaf ears. Insanity rolled his eyes at his fellow Dark Side. "Now Deceit, don't be such a baby! Anxiety went through roughly the same thing! And he turned out just _fine_!"

  
"You tortured him relentlessly! The only reason he didn't die is because I helped him escape!"

  
Insanity's smile faltered for a moment as he retrieved another syringe from his desk and the tone of his voice went ice cold. "Well then, since _you're_ the reason he escaped our _fun_ , all the more reason for you to take his place. See what's in this syringe? _Adrenaline_. I don't want you passing out during this after all."

* * *

  
Deceit's body felt like it was on fire. He lost count of how many hours it's been since this torture started. Vaguely, he thought he could taste copper in his mouth. He didn't get a chance to dwell on it though, for at that moment, Insanity had injected something new into his body. Whatever it was, it increased the burning sensation tenfold.

  
Insanity grinned as his new "creation" started to take effect. Deceit's screams intensified as his incisors started to forcefully grow and sharpen, as abrasions on part of his face and back started to "heal"; hardening and discoloring into green snake-like scales. The tongue was the most boring part in Insanity's opinion. He already did the quick job of slicing it in half, now it was just a matter of it healing and changing to match that of a proper snake tongue.

  
"You know, I've been having trouble lately in the Imagination. What do ya say that after our fun is done, I drop you off there. You could help me by serving as a warning to the Light Sides! The Prince frequents that place after all. He's bound to find your lifeless body _eventually_."

  
And that is what the doctor did. He didn't need Deceit around anymore now that he proved his experiment was a success. Flinging the newly created hybrid's body into the Imagination, he made sure to leave a note with him. The note merely said " _Insanity_ ". Straight to the point; after all, he didn't want anyone trying to take credit for his work.

  
As he made his way back to the lab, all thoughts of Deceit ceased. Whether he lived or died, Insanity got his point across. And now? _Now, he had work to do_.


	2. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently this went from a one-shot to a story with multiple chapters now. Enjoy.

Anger was pacing around his room, hitting the punching bag attached to his door every so often. He didn't understand what was going on and it frustrated him. First Anxiety disappeared and he couldn't find any trace left behind of the younger male. Now Deceit was missing as well?

  
"Argh! Where could he be?!" Another fist to the punching bag accompanied his shout. "Damn it Deceit! It was bad enough losing one _son_! I _can't_ lose you as well!" It was then a thought came to him.

_Insanity._

He always hated the bastard; it was well known among the four of them.  "I swear, if he had something to do with this...!"

* * *

  
Insanity growled as the door to his lab was slammed open. Before he could respond, he was thrown up against the wall, a hand around his neck that was just open enough so he could speak. " _Ang-_ "

  
"Where is he?!"

  
Insanity merely stared into Anger's eyes, completely unfazed. "Where is whom? I'm a scientist, not a mind reader."

  
"Deceit! I can't find him anywhere!" Insanity rolled his eyes only to have the hand on his neck begin to tighten. Once Insanity began coughing, Anger let go, feeling that he got his point across. " _Well?_ "

  
"I don't know where he is. If he's not in the commons or the library then he must have gone out for a walk or something." His tone was even and calm, he knew how to act around Anger accordingly. This seemed to appease Anger for the next thing Insanity knew, he was back down on his feet. However, he quickly grew annoyed when the other side seemed to meander mindlessly around the place. "Is there anything else you need? If not then the door is right behind you."

  
Anger shot a glare at the doctor before looking away with a sigh. "Look, you are the absolute _last_ person I'd ever go to for help but..."

  
Insanity merely crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "But what? Out with it."

  
Anger stared hard at him in response, "If you see Deceit, let me know. Ever since Anxiety...disappeared...I've been worried about the same thing happening to him. _Got it?_ "

  
Insanity had to refrain from rolling his eyes once more, "Yes, yes, of course. If I see him, I'll let you know."

  
Once Insanity was finally left alone again, his expression changed to one of cold indifference. "Not that either of us will actually see him again." He walked over to his rat cages and roughly grabbed one, having captured some from the Imagination after his "delivery". "Well then little lab rat, now that the brainless brute is gone, why don't we have some fun?"

* * *

  
Deceit swore he could hear someone talking. But how? He should have been dead. Unless he was and this...

  
_"Where did you say you found him?"_   
_"Near the village outskirts. He-"_

  
A...village? Well, he supposed that proved his idea of being dead incorrect...thankfully. He tried to move one of his arms but found that he couldn't. Forcing his eyes open, he hissed quietly at the sudden brightness and looked down. There was a splint holding his arm in place.

  
_"-piece of paper. It just says **Insanity** on it."_

  
Upon hearing that word, everything came rushing back to him at once. Insanity's ramblings about hybrids, how Deceit was going to suffer for helping Anxiety escape, the searing pain coursing throughout his body...

  
"Aaahh!" The pain suddenly hit him all at once, forcing an unholy screech out of his throat. The next thing he knew, a rush of people in white coats were surrounding the bed that he was lied out on. He felt himself start to panic once he saw a syringe in one of the hands of these people. "No! No! Not again!" Deceit began flailing his good arm, trying desperately to fend off these attackers.

  
Outside, someone stood by and watched as the doctors managed to hold him still long enough to inject him with a sedative. The bystander's body was tense and his face twisted into an expression of sympathy and horror, wishing he could do something to ease the other's pain. Once the scene calmed down, he forced himself to speak up. "I'm taking him back home with me."

  
The doctors looked over at him, shock written on their faces. Eventually, one walked toward him and spoke, "Sir, with all due respect, we strongly advise against it."

  
A sigh. "Look, I understand that he's in pain but... but at least if I bring him with me, he'll be safer. You've taken care of his major injuries and for that I am incredibly thankful. I'd just feel more comfortable knowing that he's where we can keep an eye on him."

  
The doctor shook his head in disbelief, "And what of the constant pain he's in when awake? That's not going to go away with the snap of a finger. You just saw it yourself, we needed to sedate him."

  
"...Logan's smart, just write down what we need to know to make it and he'll be able to conjure it up as needed."

  
Despite the doctor's better judgement, he recognized the look on the other's face; a look of pure stubbornness. "...Very well, Prince Roman. We will leave the patient's care to you. However, I _highly_ stress that if something goes wrong, you bring him back here at once."

  
The prince nodded, "You have my word, doctor."


	3. Reunited

_"Okay lads, there's something important we need to go over."_

  
_Anxiety took out his ear buds and Deceit looked up from his book. "Yeah, Pops?" Anxiety asked, looking concerned._

  
_Anger looked at them, a stern look on his face. "You both know about this...new guy, right?"_

  
_Deceit spoke up while Anxiety nodded nervously, "Of course. He doesn't call himself Insanity, after all."_

  
_Anger sighed, "That's exactly what I'm concerned about. Now, I'm trying to be fair because he hasn't done anything yet but if he bothers you kids or something, let me know."_

* * *

  
Deceit groaned as he came to once more. The first thing he registered was that the pain was still there, but it was...bearable for now. The second thing was that he appeared to be in some kind of room. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was a bedroom and whose ever it was had quite a variety of interests; fairy lights strung up, _Nightmare Before Christmas_ posters scattered about the walls, a desk in one corner covered with all kinds of artistic supplies, and a stack of encyclopedias in another.

  
"Deceit?!"

  
That voice...no, there was _no_ way... Deceit looked over towards the voice and saw a familiar figure standing in the doorway. "Anxi-!" He broke off into a coughing fit, his throat raw and dry. Next thing he knew, he was being handed a glass of water.

  
"Here, drink this, it'll help."

  
Sure enough, it soothed his throat for the time being. Taking a breath, Deceit looked at the other side. "Please tell me I'm _dead_."

  
Virgil sat on the edge of the bed and looked down nervously. "You're alive alright, Dee. You...you almost did actually die though..."

  
Deceit tensed before letting out a sigh of relief, "If you're real and I'm not actually dead, then where are we?"

  
"We're in the light side of the mindscape."

  
It was Deceit's turn to look nervous, "What? You know that the light sides don't particularly like the dark sides."

  
Virgil looked up at his friend and gave him a small smile. "It's alright Dee. ...I mean, in the beginning, they didn't really get along with me but...we managed to put that in the past." Upon seeing Deceit didn't look too convinced, he spoke up once more, "One of the light sides - Roman - he's the one who brought you here. He felt that you would be safer here instead of in the Imagination."

  
"Well... I suppose I _don't_ feel a bit safer, especially knowing that you're here, Anxiety," Deceit spoke quietly.

  
"Virgil."

  
The other side looked at him, confused, "What?"

  
Virgil scratched the back of his head nervously, "I-it's what I go by here. My real name."

  
Deceit closed his eyes and nodded, "Virgil. Very well then."

  
Seeing as Deceit was falling back to sleep, Virgil stood up and head for the door.

  
"Virgil?"

  
Virgil stopped and looked over at Deceit, "Yeah?"

  
"I _didn't_ miss you."

  
The anxious side smiled a bit, "I missed you too, Dee."

* * *

  
"How is he?"

  
Virgil sighed and looked over at Roman, "I...I honestly can't say for sure. He wasn't screaming in pain but he didn't stay awake for too long either. He at least knows that he's somewhere safe now."

  
Roman walked over, sliding his arms around the anxious side's waist and leaning his head against Virgil's. "And what about you, love? You-"

  
Virgil looked down and spoke, "I know, I know, I've been doing a lot better with the panic attacks but...Deceit is one of my close friends. Seeing him in that state..."

  
Roman ran a hand through Virgil's hair to help calm him, sensing the heightened tense coming from him. "It's alright my love, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You're alright now and your friend is safe here with us."

  
Virgil merely hugged onto Roman, not really trusting himself to speak without breaking down.

* * *

  
Opening the door to his lab, Insanity peaked out into the hallway. No sign of Anger anywhere to bother him. ' _Must be asleep_ ,' Insanity thought. ' _Good, then I won't run the risk of him getting in the way of my newest experiment'_. Quietly stalking down the halls, the doctor kept walking until he reached the door that separated the dark side of the mindscape and the Imagination.

Going through, Insanity quickly noticed that the nearby village had what appeared to be royal guards stationed there. ' _So, looks like good ol' Princey got my warning after all._ '

A smirk grew on his face, "Perfect."


	4. A Plan Takes Shape

_"INSANITY!"_

  
Insanity stopped in his tracks and looked behind him. Raising an eyebrow, the doctor spoke, "Anger? What pray tell are you doing in the Imagination?" He took a step back as Anger ran up to him.

  
Anger put his hand up as he fought to catch his breath. "I'm still looking for Deceit! Have you have any luck?"

  
_'Oh, yes, I claimed that if I saw Deceit, I'd let Anger know.'_ He sighed and put a hand on Anger's shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face. "Unfortunately not, Anger. If you want, I can help you look. This place is quite big after all."

  
Anger took a moment to consider the offer. On one hand, he despised Insanity but on the other, his worry for his son was far greater. "Yeah, yeah, I'd be grateful for that."

  
Internally, Insanity was fuming, _'All I wanted to do was distract those guards long enough to steal away some human lab rats! I swear, Anger's time **will** come.'_ Putting on a smile, Insanity patted Anger's shoulder, "Well, let's get going then, we don't have all day."

* * *

  
"Virge?"

  
Virgil looked up and saw the concerned faces of his boyfriends looking down at him. _'What-? Shit, fell asleep in the hall again.'_ "...Hey guys."

  
Logan held out his hand for the anxious side to grab and helped him onto his feet. "This is the second time we've found you here Virgil..."

  
Patton stepped forward and placed a hand on Virgil's shoulder, a look of concern on his face. "We know you're worried about your friend, kiddo, but maybe you should get to bed."

  
Virgil leaned against the wall and let out a frustrated sigh, "I know but what if something happens? What if he wakes up and is in pain? Or he panics? Or-!?"

  
"Virgil," Logan spoke up, getting the anxious side's attention, "I need you to focus. Four-seven-eight."

  
While Logan and Patton were focused on Virgil, Roman stood back, biting his tongue. Seeing Virgil like this always tore him up inside. That note - that warning message the doctors found - he knew he needed to bring that up to the others. But now wasn't the right time, not until Deceit, and in turn Virgil, was doing better.

* * *

  
_"Pops?"_

  
_Anger looked over to the couch where Deceit and Anxiety were sitting, "Yeah Anxiety?"_

  
_Anxiety was looking down at the floor, his hands fidgeting nervously, "I-I...um..."_

  
_Deceit glanced at Anxiety who in turn nodded his head, "Anxiety **doesn't** want to know what the Light Sides are like."_

  
_"Hmm..." Anger walked over, pulling a chair with him. Sitting backwards on it, he gave his answer some thought before thinking. "Well, two of them don't exactly get along too well with me. Creativity runs around acting like some high and mighty do-no-wrong prince while Logic's a nerd who wants to think every problem through for a solution. I say act first, think later! Some problems you gotta act first unless you want to end up dead!"_

  
_Anxiety nodded hesitantly and looked up at him, "You said 'two of them'. Are there more Light Sides?"_

  
_Anger smirked, "Morality. Met 'em a few times by chance. Decent enough guy, gets the other two to shut the fuck up once in a while."_

* * *

  
Deceit awoke once more and looked at the clock hanging from the wall. _'2:30 in the morning._ ' With a hiss, he forced himself to sit up. The pain had gone down enough for him to think coherently for more than a few moments. Of note, the splint on his arm had been replaced with a cast at some point and his free hand was wrapped in gauze.

  
With nothing else to do, Deceit thought back to what Virgil had told him.

  
_"It's alright Dee. ...I mean, in the beginning, they didn't really get along with me but...we managed to put that in the past."_

  
A smile crept along his face. At least Virgil ended up in a safer place than with Insanity. The irony that he ended up here because of the mad doctor as well was not lost on him.

* * *

  
Insanity was still in the Imagination, he had convinced Anger to continue his search tomorrow. This finally gave Insanity the opportunity he was waiting for. Prowling through the nearest village, he hid around outside the local pub. It was closing up shop and all that was left were a couple resident drunkards that no one would even notice were missing.

  
As quietly as possible, Insanity grabbed a piece of firewood from the pile next to the pub. All it took was one swing to the head each and they were down for the count. Tossing the bloodied wood aside, Insanity grabbed both men by the collars of their shirts and began dragging them as quickly out of sight as possible.

  
Sometime later, Insanity arrived back at the lab and strapped the two drunkards onto his makeshift operating tables. Going over to his desk, Insanity pulled out two syringes of tranquilizer. As much as he loved hearing the screams of his victims, he didn't need Anger waking up and discovering what he was doing. Walking back to the tables, Insanity injected his test subjects and looked over at the rat cages. Sure, he would have preferred to have more than just rats to work with but other animals were hard enough to come by as it is.

  
_"And besides, an army is much more intimidating when it seems to be never-ending. Kill one rat-man, another takes its place immediately."_


	5. Weeks Go By

Over the course of a few weeks, Insanity's army began to take shape. Having hybrids do the dirty work of sneaking around the Imagination and snatching away more victims made his time much more productive. It was like clockwork to him now. Send the hybrids out for more rats and more humans, perform the necessary transformation procedures, and then send the new ones out while the others stayed at his new base of operations he had set up in the Imagination, hidden from prying eyes.

  
During that same time, Anger had given up on his search for Deceit. Insanity knew it pained the other side to do so but that worked just perfectly for himself. The only time Anger ever came out of his room anymore was for food or to yell at Insanity to keep the noise down because he couldn't sleep. Even then, Anger's yelling lacked its usual intimidation, so Insanity hardly payed him any mind for the time being.

  
In the light side of the mindscape, Deceit's wounds were healing up and he could actually walk around once more. The fact that he was half-snake now bothered him more than he let on. However, the light sides had done so much for him that he didn't want to burden them anymore than he felt he had already. Virgil had tried to talk to him about it but Deceit insisted everything was fine. Although Virgil knew this was a lie, he decided not to push the issue for the time being. He finally had his friend back and he didn't want to screw that up.

* * *

  
Roman confided in Logan, Patton, and Virgil about the warning. As soon as Virgil heard the word " _insanity_ ", he paled and started to panic. It took a while to calm him down enough so he could speak. Virgil looked at each of them, concern etched into their faces. Taking a shaky breath, Virgil began to speak.

  
"I-Insanity is...he's a dark side but he doesn't _deserve_ that title. He's a-a _monster_ who thinks what he does is a game!"

  
Concerned glances were cast among the others and Logan spoke up, "What is it that he does exactly?"

  
Virgil balled his hands into fists as he started shaking, whether from panic or anger, they couldn't tell. "Insanity tortures anyone and anything he can get his hands on. He gets joy from his 'experiments' and...and that's exactly what that monster did to Deceit!" Virgil slammed his fists onto the table they were seated at and stood up. "He's tortured _Deceit_! He's tortured _me_! He's tortured so many others for his own fucking pleasure!"

  
A stunned silence fell upon the room. Both Roman and Logan appeared utterly horrified while Patton looked ready to break down crying. Virgil ran his hands through his hair as he rapidly paced around for a moment. "I-I need to go see Deceit!" With that, Virgil hightailed it up the stairs while the others were left alone.

* * *

  
" _Dee!_ "

  
Deceit was startled awake from the sound of the door being slammed open. Snapping his head in that direction, he noticed a panicked Virgil standing there, breathing heavily. Getting up as quickly as he could, he rushed over to Virgil and put his free hand on the other side's shoulder.

  
"Virgil, Virge, I _don't_ need you to focus. _Don't_ focus on your breathing."

  
Virgil shook his head, "No! We-we need to do something about Insanity! He can't keep doing his bullshit ex-experiments!"

  
Deceit sighed, "I understand that and we will. Right now, I need you to focus; I know you can do it."

  
Once Virgil started to finally calm down, Deceit led him over to the bed, sitting him down. "Now, do you want me to _not_ get the others?"

  
Virgil nodded his head, "Y-yeah." As Deceit left the room, Virgil let out a shaky breath and lied down. This was too much for him to handle.

Minutes later, Deceit reappeared with Logan, Patton, and Roman in tow. Patton ran over and enveloped Virgil in a hug. Deceit stood back while Logan and Roman went over to Virgil and Patton. Virgil needed them more than he needed Deceit right now, not that Deceit held it against him.

  
"K-kiddo, are you alright?" Patton asked, pulling back from the hug to look at Virgil.

  
Virgil shook his head, "I-no, no but...I will be."

  
Logan put his hand on Virgil's shoulder, "Virgil, if it's alright, we'd like to hear the full story about Insanity."

  
"You don't have to tell us everything all at once, love," Roman interjected, "take as much time as you need. That extends to you as well, Deceit."

  
Deceit raised an eyebrow but nodded his head in understanding. If he weren't in front of the others, he might have even smiled a bit at being acknowledged.


	6. Weeks Go By - Insanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter but it establishes some key players.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A while ago, there was a tweet from Thomas stating that the Vine/Shorts universe was a different one from the Sanders Sides universe. This sparked an AU where the Vine characters lived with the Sides. The names of the Vine characters as well as the starting point for the AU comes from 5am-the-foxing-hour, and several anons, over on Tumblr.

Insanity looked at the charts hanging from several bulletin boards in his lab. Slowly but surely, the rate of success for his hybridization experiments have gone up. So enough, his army would be ready. In all honesty, he didn't care about the Imagination or conquering it, he was just using the impending attack as a way to lure in the light sides.

  
Suddenly a scowl crossed his face. While his main goal was to take down the light sides and be the one in ultimate control, there was another problem. The figments - the figments and their annoying Vine antics. Dayd; the "Dad character" as Thomas once said, Teal; the "Teacher", Pryce; the "Prince", Andy; "Anxiety", and Remy; "Sleep". These figments were the self-proclaimed "protectors" of the Imagination and had, on more than one occasion, nearly stumbled upon Insanity's hybrid soldiers. Don't get Insanity wrong, he was more than willing to drag them into this, but not before the right time.

  
The doctor walked over to his desk and opened a note book. In it were notes; info he managed to gather from several spying missions during the night.

  
1\. Andy was, confusingly, the leader of the figments and the one most eager to fight.

  
Insanity chalked that up to Andy's fight or flight instinct leaning more towards fight, but it still didn't make sense why he would have been chosen as the leader.

  
2\. Remy never took off his sunglasses, even in the pitch dark.

  
He had his theories on this, the most likely one being that the Sleep figment had an extreme sensitivity to light.

  
3\. Pryce was a very skilled swordsman and not one to be taken lightly.

  
Pryce may have impeccable skills with a sword, but get it away from him and what does he have? Nothing.

  
4\. Teal, despite his looks, had a decent grasp of fighting and was one of the quickest thinkers on his feet.

  
Hand to hand combat would only get Teal so far. After a while, he would be forced to retreat due to injury and/or exhaustion.

  
5\. Dayd was stronger than he looked and did not hold back if one of the other figments got injured.

  
Dayd reminded the doctor of Anger. However, while Dayd was strong, Anger was stronger and had training that Dayd lacked.

  
Insanity slammed the book shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He had forgotten to take Anger into consideration. Yes, the other side wasn't out of his room that often any more but there is still the chance that he would hear all the commotion and go see what's going on.

  
"Fuck it. If he does interfere then I have a stab wound to the leg with his name on it. Can't do anything if he can't stand up!"


	7. Enter: Remy

"Hey! We got a major problem going on!"

  
Andy rolled his eyes as he looked up from his phone, "Remy, I swear if this has anything to do with Starbucks again-"

  
Said figment looked offended, "Hell no, oh _wonderful_ leader! There's some kind of mutants running around!"

  
"...Mutants?" Andy asked, raising an eyebrow.

  
Remy nodded rapidly, "Yeah, mutants! They're like half-human, half-rat! I stopped one from kidnapping a villager and the rest fled!"

  
Eyes narrowing, Andy let out a growl, "Show me exactly where you saw these mutants."

* * *

  
Andy dodged out of the way as one of the four rat mutants tried to bite him. With the creature distracted, Andy landed a punch to its stomach, causing it to hiss in pain. Nearby, Remy ducked as one of them swiped its claws at his face. "Daaaaamn! Watch it with those nasty ass claws!"

  
" _Focus_ , Remy!" Andy yelled, drop-kicking the mutant he had just punched.

  
"I am totally focused!" Remy ducked out of the way again, the claws of the creature in front of him hitting the face of one that tried to sneak up behind him. The figment smirked at the yelp of pain he heard. "See? ...Andy?!"

  
Andy gritted his teeth as pain suddenly surged through his body. One of the rat creatures had leaped onto his back, knocking him to the ground. Claws raised and ready to strike, the mutant was suddenly tackled by Remy. "Stay the hell away from him!"

  
Andy quickly got back on his feet and noticed that several more mutants were coming out of hiding. "Shit! Remy, we need to get out of here!"

  
Remy looked up, a hand on the creature's throat, "And let these things go?!"

  
Remy's arm was grabbed by Andy, "We don't have a choice right now! It's two of us against who the fuck knows how many of them!" Left with little choice in the matter, Remy let himself be dragged away from the fight by Andy, though neither of them were happy about it.

* * *

  
"Well, there's definitely going to be some bruises where you landed. Other than that, it looks like you did a good job with avoiding injury," Pryce said.

  
"That's what I told Dayd," Andy grumbled.

  
Pryce smirked in response, "You know how Dayd is."

  
Andy rolled his eyes, "He worries more than I do sometimes."

  
"I know, the irony of it all," Pryce replied. "Now, where's Mr. Starbucks himself?"

  
"Eeey, right here!" Remy appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. "What's up?"

  
Andy jumped down from his perch on the sink and walked past him. "Go make sure you don't have any injuries, otherwise you won't hear the end of it later from Dayd."

  
Remy let out a sigh of annoyance, "Yeah yeah, alright. Let's make this fast Prycey, I got somewhere to be after this."

* * *

  
Remy appeared in the light side of the mindscape and looked around. No sign of any of the sides in the living room or the kitchen. ' _Time to check upstairs then_.' Quickly heading up the stairs, he raised an eyebrow. None of the rooms seemed to be occupied...except for one at the end of the hall. Walking down the hall, he noticed that the door was cracked open and he could hear talking. ' _Found them_.'

  
Upon hearing quiet knocking on the door, Virgil stopped speaking and the others looked over, confused as to who it could be. It definitely wasn't Thomas, they would have known right off the bat if it was.

Finally, it was Logan who spoke up, "Yes? Who's there?"

  
Remy opened the door, "The guy who's better than the Sandman!"

  
"Remy?!"

  
Remy smirked, "That's right!" Upon looking around at each of them, his gaze settled on Deceit. "Well well, who're you?"

  
Deceit scowled, eye twitching slightly in annoyance at the boisterous entrance, "The name is _not_ Deceit."

  
Remy's expression didn't change, years of hanging around Andy had left him used to people with...less than welcoming attitudes. "Deceit, huh? Fitting name. I'm Remy."

  
"Not that we do not enjoy your company, Remy, but is there a reason why you are here at this hour of the night?" Logan asked.

  
"Yeah there is," Remy walked over to where Roman was standing, "Hey Ro-Ro, you should probably keep better tabs on the Imagination, there's some serious shit going on there!"

  
"Language!" Patton scolded.

  
Remy rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, "Yeah, gotcha, sorry Pat."

  
Roman cast a concerned look at Virgil and Deceit before speaking, "We're all aware of an issue going on; it involves a mad scientist called Insanity. Is that what you're talking about?"

  
The sleep figment shook his head, "Uh, I don't know anything about a loony scientist. I'm talking 'bout a different problem. There's these rat mutant things coming out at night and snatching people up!" Having said that, Remy was met with a loud chorus of-

  
"WHAT?!"

  
The figment jumped back, startled, "Okay, ow, my ears." Upon seeing everyone looking alert now, he continued, "Yeah, that's what I saw. Me and a friend went to go deal with them but there were too many, at least by his call, so we fled."

  
Roman stared at him, dumbstruck, "You went to fight them instead of alerting one of the royal guards?"

  
Remy merely shrugged in response, "Not for nothing but my friends and I have done a lot more to protect the Imagination than your guards are able to do."

  
Patton put a hand on Roman's shoulder, the royal looking rather offended at the statement. Seeing the look Patton was giving him, Roman sighed and bit his tongue.

  
Logan cleared his throat and spoke up, "It appears that the situation regarding Insanity is worse than initially believed. For now, I propose that Remy should bring these friends of his here. If they are working to stop this situation as well, then we should all be on the same page."

  
"Yeah, sure, I can do that. Be back in no time!" With a grin, Remy ran out of the room, making his way back to the Imagination.


	8. Trouble

_Lying under a tree at night in the Imagination were two people. One was holding the other in his arms while the latter was talking about anything and everything that came to mind._

  
_"I'm worried."_

  
_The former looked down in concern, "About?"_

  
_A sigh, "There's a...a darkness creeping around the Imagination. I'm worried about it, about it harming the residents, about it escaping into either side of the mindscape, about it harming Thomas..."_

  
_The figure above tightened his grip slightly and closed his eyes to gather his thoughts._

  
_"Anger?"_

  
_Anger looked down at him, "None of that will happen, Courage, I won't allow it. I won't let anyone get hurt on my watch!"_

  
_Courage had the faintest trace of a smile, "Neither will I. As long as you're beside me, I won't give up."_

  
Insanity awoke with a start, leaping away from his desk and out of his chair. Running his hands through his hair, Insanity paced around the room. It was that damn dream again; he couldn't escape it. Initially, the doctor had chalked it up to too much work and not enough sleep but even after making changes to his sleep schedule, the dream kept coming.

  
He didn't have time for this inane nonsense. There was a plan that he needed to see through.

  
"At all costs."

* * *

 

Anger awoke with a start. That...dream? No, it was definitely a memory. A memory of a happier time, a time where Anger was together with the love of his life. ' _None of that will happen_ ' and yet it did, it did and Anger was left without Courage because of it.

  
Anger clenched his eyes shut as tears threatened to fall. First Courage, then Anxiety, now Deceit. His whole family just...gone. Gone without a damn trace. It wasn't fair, it wasn't, it-

  
"ARGH!" Anger suddenly punched the wall next to his bed, leaving a hole in it and blood on his hand. "FUCK!"

  
Holding his hand to his chest, Anger ran out of his room and to the bathroom, where the first aid kit was. In his haste, he didn't even realize he had run past Insanity, who looked less than pleased to see him.

  
"Brainless brute."

* * *

  
"Hey guys, come...here?" Remy looked around the warehouse-turned-home. It was eerily quiet and the only light source he saw was coming from the basement. Creeping his way over to the stairs, he once again called out. "Guys?" Still receiving no response, Remy began to make his way down the stairs.

  
"Andy? Pryce?" Silence. "Teal? Dayd? ...Come on guys, this isn't funny!"

  
As soon as Remy reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a loud crash followed by a swear. "Andy?!"

  
Andy groaned as he sat up, back aching from being thrown into a wall. Those rat creatures were apparently smarter than they looked and had tracked them down.

  
"Andy?!"

  
Andy and the creature both looked over and in an instant, the rat lunged at Remy. He scrambled to his feet despite the pain he was in, "Fuck! Remy!"

  
Remy barely moved out of the way in time and watched as the mutant landed on the floor with a thud. It got back up and hissed at Remy, baring its teeth and claws. The sleep figment backed away slowly, casting a panicked glance at Andy. "What the hell happened?! How'd this thing get here?!"

  
"It-it tracked us down!" Andy let out a growl as he pulled a switchblade out of his jeans pocket. The minute that thing tried to lunge at Remy again, Andy had charged forward, grabbing the creature's arm and stabbing it in the side. He barely had time to register the claw that was aimed for him, knocking him back to the ground, deep cuts on his chest. "F-fuck!"

  
While the creature was focused on Andy, Remy made a daring attempt to grab the switchblade that had fallen to the ground. Upon grabbing the weapon, Remy rushed at the creature, stabbing it over and over in a panicked frenzy. Only when the creature dropped dead in a pool of its own blood did Remy stop.

  
Pocketing the blade, Remy ran over to Andy. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Andy, can you hear me?!"

  
Andy let out a pained groan and closed his eyes, the light from the basement starting to give him a headache. "Ye-ah fuck! Yeah, I can..."

  
"Alright just...just try to stay awake!" Remy picked up Andy in his arms, adrenaline pumping throughout his body. "I'll get you somewhere safe and then you'll be fine and then you can tell me where the others are and we can go find them!"

* * *

  
"GUYS!"

  
Remy had made it back to the light side of the mindscape. After a few moments that felt more like a few hours, he heard footsteps rushing down the stairs.

  
"Remy?! What's wrong kiddo?!" Patton stopped in his tracks as he took in the sight before him. Remy was standing in the living room, blood covering his shirt, holding someone who looked strikingly like how Virgil used to - the dark hair, the black clothes, that all-too familiar black and grey hoodie...

  
"Patton?! Is everything alright?!"

  
Patton turned to look back and saw Virgil standing there, the other three sides following. Unable to speak at the moment, he shot a worried look at them before looking back at Remy. Remy looked up to the group of shocked faces and made eye contact with Virgil, "Please...he needs help."

* * *

  
Remy was sitting on the sofa, head in his hands. Roman and Logan were off in another room,  working together to take care of Andy's injuries. Patton sat next to him, rubbing his back, trying to calm down the on-edge figment. Virgil was seated in a chair across from Remy while Deceit stood nearby, a hand on his friend's shoulder, both of their expressions unreadable.

  
Finally, it was Patton who broke the silence. "Remy...kiddo...who was the person you were carrying...and why does he..." Patton trailed off, glancing at Virgil.

  
Remy took a deep breath and looked up, "The guy you saw is named Andy. He's my best friend and he's from the Imagination, same as me. Thomas - he's mentioned videos called the ' _Sanders Shorts_ ' right?"

  
Remy was met with silence before Virgil reluctantly spoke up, "...Yeah. It's what the Vines became, right? Other than the ones you were in we thought-"

  
Remy interrupted him, "You thought it was just Thomas dressing up like you guys as part of the joke. Well surprise, that's not the case. Andy, Pryce, Dayd, Teal, they are all separate people, just like I am. Our weird little group took it upon ourselves to protect the Imagination, with Andy as our leader."

  
Virgil and Patton sat back, stunned into silence by what Remy just said. It was Deceit who spoke up after a few minutes, "You _didn't_ list three other names. Where are they?"

  
Remy groaned and put his head back in his hands, "When I got home, I found Andy in the basement fighting one of those rat...things. I just...I really don't want to think that they got captured...or _worse_."


	9. The Others

"Ugh..." Pryce groaned as he began to come to. Putting his hand to his face, he let out a hiss of pain and pulled it back. Looking down at his hand, he noticed traces of blood on it. He then heard movement nearby and looked up, seeing two figures slumped against the wall opposite of him. "Teal? Dayd?"

  
Teal looked up at Pryce tiredly, "Hey Pryce." The teacher turned his head to look down at the person next to him. "Hey Dayd," Teal shook his arm, "wake up."

  
As Dayd opened his eyes, he looked between Teal and Pryce and the room they were stuck in. Some kind of prison cell. "Someone refresh my memory. What happened?"

  
"Andy and Remy told us about those rat monsters and then Remy took off somewhere after I checked him for any injuries," Pryce said.

  
Teal nodded, "And then those creatures showed up. Most likely tracked either of them down through scent."

  
"And they knocked us out," Dayd finished. "Got it."

  
"Speaking of, Andy isn't here with us," Teal noted.

  
The other two glanced at him, both looking hopeful. "Then there's a chance that he escaped?" Pryce asked.

  
Teal nodded, "A probable chance."

  
Dayd had a small smile on his face, "Knowing Andy, he did and he probably went to find Remy. I don't think we have much to worry about right now."

* * *

  
"Damn it Andy! Ya can't just go back there while you're injured!" Remy was trying, and failing, to reason with Andy. Andy, meanwhile, was being held back by Roman and Deceit, the latter of which finally had the cast removed from his arm.

  
"This guy is _not_ stronger then he looks," Deceit whispered to Roman.

  
"Agreed," Roman whispered back.

  
"Our family was taken by those fucking monsters, Remy!" Andy yelled at his friend.

  
" _Language!_ " Everyone stopped and glanced at Patton, who had a stern look on his face.

  
"...He can't be serious right now," Andy spoke in a deadpan manner.

  
Remy nodded his head, "Believe me, he is."

  
It was silent for a few more moments before Andy took the opportunity to leap out of the hold Deceit and Roman had on him.

  
"How?!" Roman stood there shocked, mouth agape.

  
Deceit smirked, "Nice. Definitely something I _was_ expecting to happen."

  
Unfortunately for Andy, he didn't make to far before he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Remy. "What did I just get done saying?!" Remy continued after hearing a pained groan from Andy, "Now look, your injuries are even worse now!"

  
Andy growled, "Well gee, who's fault is that, Mr. Starbucks!?"

  
"Man I can't even deal with you right now," Remy said, getting up off of Andy, knowing the current bout of pain from the injuries would keep him from trying anything again. "Someone else try talking sense into him. I need a coffee break."

* * *

  
Insanity walked down the hall to the library. His henchmen had surprised him with news of his latest prisoners and he wanted to see them for himself. Walking over to a dust-covered bookcase hidden in a corner, Insanity's eyes searched among the books. Finding the correct one, he pulled the book forward and the bookcase swung open like a door, revealing a hidden passageway.

  
At first, the passageway was constructed through cobblestone and wood but as Insanity kept walking further and further, the path gave way to a more modern, metallic design. Eventually, Insanity reached his destination. Pulling a key card out of his coat pocket, he opened the door at the end of the hall and walked through.

  
The room he was in contained several cells, all of them currently empty except for one.

  
" _...don't think we have much to worry about right now._ "

  
Insanity smirked, as he walked towards the cell. ' _Oh how wrong they are._ '

  
The three figments looked up as they heard footsteps coming towards their cell. Confusion crossed their faces as Insanity appeared before them. Insanity merely smirked upon seeing the confusion. ' _This should be fun._ '

  
"Well, this is what the rats dragged in? Not what I was expecting but I can work with this," Insanity said.

  
Pryce growled, "Villainous scum! When I get out of here-!"

  
Insanity rolled his eyes as he scowled, "Pipe down, you second rate Disney reject! You are in no position to be making threats towards me."

  
Teal noticed a change in Pryce's body posture, "Pryce, _don't-_!"

  
Pryce ignored Teal as he jumped up and reached his arms through the cell bars, grabbing Insanity's lab coat. Insanity grunted as he was slammed against the bars, staring into Pryce's eyes. "You had better unlock this cell this instant!" Pryce yelled.

  
Insanity's eyes suddenly darkened and he grabbed one of Pryce's wrists, twisting it until Pryce yelled out in pain and let go of his coat. The doctor then grabbed Pryce's other wrist and used it to twist the prince's arm behind his back. Seeing this, Teal and Dayd immediately jumped up.

  
" _Pryce!_ "

  
Upon hearing another yell of pain come from Pryce, Insanity pushed him forward with enough force to send him stumbling into the other figments. Insanity watched with a smirk as they steadied the prince. Both of them were glaring at him, eyes burning with hatred. The doctor merely stared back at them, "Let that serve as a warning against any further bouts of foolishness."

* * *

  
It was night in the mindscape now and all was quiet. Roman, Logan, and Patton were asleep while Virgil volunteered to help Remy keep an eye on Andy in case he tried doing something rash again. Deceit was downstairs, sitting on the couch while the tv quietly droned on, the dark side lost in his own thoughts.

  
Even he couldn't lie about one certain fact - everything was descending into hell. Lifting his hand up, he felt the scales on his face against the glove. ' _Insanity did this..._ ' Deceit closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. The memories, the pain of that day, it threatened to overwhelm him.

  
His thoughts then drifted to Anger. He felt incredibly guilty that he had yet to attempt getting back to the other side. While he knew that Anger could easily defend himself against Insanity, there was no telling how he was handling the fact that Deceit was now gone. It had been bad when Virgil left, Anger blamed himself for it and Deceit spent months trying to convince him that wasn't the case.

  
' _Virgil..._ ' Memories of the time where Deceit had saved Virgil from Insanity. He had heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from Insanity's room. Forcing the door open, Deceit had seen Insanity standing over Virgil, a blood-covered knife in his hand. In a fit of rage, Deceit slammed Insanity into the wall, hard enough to knock the doctor out briefly. The lunatic had stabbed Virgil in the arms repeatedly and Deceit forced his own panic back in order to take care of the bleeding.

  
After that, Deceit had carried Virgil over to the light side of the mindscape; there was no way he was going to let Virgil stay in the dark side after that. Virgil had tried to protest but he eventually listened to Deceit's reasoning. Before he left Virgil, he told him to go straight to Mortality, reminding Virgil of what Anger said about the light side in question. The anxious side asked Deceit to stay with him but he had no choice; he had to go back to see Anger and to make sure Insanity couldn't attempt another attack.

  
' _A lot of good that did. Now look at this fucking mess we're in._ '

  
He supposed there was a marginal amount of good that came out of the past few weeks. Not enough to make him feel better at the moment but it was that or nothing. Deceit had finally reunited with Virgil, even if it was under the worst possible circumstances, and Virgil had found a place, a home, even love, among the light sides. As for the light sides, he was grateful that they had shown him kindness and that they, with Virgil's help, caught on to the whole " _yeah, he lies but just think of the opposite word when he does_ " thing.

  
Deceit eventually moved to lay down on the couch and turned off the tv. As he drifted off, he hoped that things would start getting better.


	10. A Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter chapter. Still important though.

_Courage glanced at his surroundings; a forest  with dead trees that appeared to be screaming in terror, a lingering mist low to the ground, perpetual darkness in the sky. This was were the darkness originated from, he just knew it. Walking further and further into the forest, Courage eventually stumbled upon a cave, the inside lit up with torches. Hoping to find answers, Courage entered._

  
_As he traversed the cave, Courage could hear a low growling throughout. Taking a deep breath, he continued onward. This needed to be done, he needed to confront whatever was in here. Eventually, he stumbled upon a room with skulls and bones scattered about. Against a wall stood a throne made out of wood and bone, torches on either side, lighting the area up._

  
_Suddenly, a cloud of darkness appeared in front of it, quickly forming into a shadow-like demon. The demon easily towered over Courage but he wouldn't back down, not after he came this far. Pulling a dagger out of his pants pocket, Courage lunged at the demon..._

  
Insanity snapped awake, sitting up in his bed and looking at the clock on the wall.

  
_12:30 AM_

  
Growling to himself, Insanity flopped back down. ' _Another one of those fucking dreams._ ' He didn't know why these dreams had suddenly started, just that they were interfering with his sleep schedule. As he tried to go back to sleep, his mind drifted back to the dream. ' _Courage...why does that name seem so familiar?_ '

* * *

  
Remy had fallen asleep some time ago, curled up to Andy, clinging to the other figment. Andy was running his hand through Remy's hair gently. He raised an eyebrow once he noticed Virgil was staring at them.

"What?"

  
"...Is Remy going to be alright? He was freaking out pretty badly," Virgil said quietly.

  
Andy sighed, "I'd say yeah but this is the first time any of us had to deal with something as serious as this. Usually it's just things like witches or ghouls that we deal with, not this kind of shit."

  
Virgil stared at him again, eyes wide as he took in what Andy just said. Witches? Ghouls? This apparently being a normal occurrence? Just what the hell was the Imagination like?

  
The figment rolled his eyes, "Now what?"

  
Virgil shook his head, body tense, "Nothing! ...Just all that stuff...how are you not scared?"

  
Andy's gaze softened as he looked at the anxious side, "Never said I wasn't. I just can't afford to show it, not when the team needs their leader. The minute I do during a fight is the minute an enemy takes advantage of that."

* * *

  
Anger stared down at the picture in his hands. It was of Courage and himself, during happier times. When Courage said that he was going to the Imagination to investigate that troubling darkness, Anger knew he should have gone with him. Hell, he was going to but Courage had insisted that Anger stayed behind, that Anxiety and Deceit would be worried sick if something happened to him. He remembers trying to turn that reasoning right back on Courage for why he should go. After all, the light sides would no doubt be worried to death if something happened to Courage.  
' _I should have pushed harder. I should have followed him regardless!_ '

  
Anger let out a frustrated yell and flopped down onto his bed. He knew that he needed to do something, anything, but he had no idea what. No ideas and it was driving him up the wall. Vaguely, he heard screaming coming from Insanity's lab and he let out a growl. Getting up, he stormed out of his room and down towards the mad doctor's lab.

  
Anger kicked open the door, not giving a shit at the moment. What he saw immediately after stunned him. Insanity was staring at him, sharp teeth bared with a fire in his eyes. He then noticed three other figures in the room as well. Two of them were holding the third, who's white clothes were stained with blood.

  
" _Anger_ ," Insanity growled out.

  
"...You," Anger suddenly charged at Insanity, "deranged bastard!"

  
Insanity ducked out of the way, a serrated knife in hand, "How many times have I told you?! Do not interrupt me when I'm working, you brainless brute!"

  
With some quick thinking, Anger kicked Insanity to the ground. Turning to the others, he yelled, "Go get your friend to safety!"

  
They wasted no time following his orders. As soon as Dayd was carrying Pryce in his arms, he and Teal made a run for it.

  
Anger turned his attention back to Insanity. The doctor was back on his feet and glared at him. "You will live to regret interfering, Anger!" Insanity spat out, venom laced in his voice.

  
Anger growled in response, "When I'm done with you, I'm going to be the only one _alive_."


	11. Fight

"Argh!" Anger was kicked to the ground, Insanity standing over him. What had initially started in Insanity's lab had escalated into the Imagination. Insanity sneered at him and conjured his knife up. Seeing the blade coming down, Anger grabbed Insanity's wrist, holding him off.

  
With the doctor distracted, Anger grabbed Insanity's arm with his free hand. Using his strength, Anger tossed Insanity over his head. He heard a shout of pain and the ground cracking slightly from the impact. In this moment, Anger jumped back onto his feet.

  
Insanity growled as he got up and lunged at Anger, blade still in his hand. He smirked as Anger grabbed his own arm, blood trickling down from the new wound. Anger merely glared back at him before dashing to the left. The doctor aimed his knife at Anger again but the other side was quicker, sucker punching the doctor and causing the weapon to fall to the ground.

  
Insanity suddenly started laughing. This only served to enrage Anger further. With a brief flash in his eyes, the doctor dodged every punch thrown his way. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?" More laughter.

  
"STOP FUCKING LAUGHING!" Anger was out for blood. With a quick idea, Anger changed his current fighting tactic and tackled Insanity to the ground. Raising his fist, Anger was ready to knock Insanity's teeth out. To his shock, Insanity blocked the fist with his hand and proceeded to twist Anger's wrist until he yelled in pain.

  
Suddenly, Insanity's tone of voice shifted until it sounded down right demonic, "You're just as weak as _Courage_ was."

  
Anger's eye twitched, expression unreadable for a brief moment, "Wh-what!?"

  
Insanity kicked Anger off him and pinned him to the ground, foot on Anger's back. "You heard me. He was nothing compared to me. Neither are you, nor is anyone else who dares to oppose me, _human_."

* * *

  
_Courage was thrown against a wall. With a groan, he struggled to get up. This shadow demon was much stronger than he originally thought. The demon watched his opponent struggle and merely laughed in response. "You were a fool to come here, human."_

  
_He grunted in pain as the demon grabbed him by the throat. Courage struggled desperately, trying to break the demon's grasp. It was quickly getting hard for him to breath._

  
_"Hmm..." As if by some twisted act of mercy, Courage was freed, due to the demon tossing him to the ground. The demon watched as Courage gasped for air and smirked. "You're a fool but maybe I can get some use out of you..."_

  
_In a moment, the demon dissolved back into its original shadow state. As Courage got up onto his knees, the shadow charged at him. It disappeared into his body and Courage let out an agonized scream, falling forward. Darkness seeped out from his eyes and mouth, circling around him, tormenting him with dark energy. With a demonic roar escaping from him, the demon took over._

  
_Where Courage once was, a new figure appeared in his place. Looking around, the being was confused. He had no memories of this place or...anything really. All the man knew was that there was a name coming to mind. Insanity._

* * *

  
It had finally all come back to Insanity. His life as a shadow demon. Courage's life as a light side. "Heh". This would make things so much more fun for him. Don't get him wrong, he was still going to stick with his plan of a mutant army. It's just that if he sees an opportunity for some extra fun, he was going to be damn sure to take it.

  
Looking down, he could see Anger still struggling underneath his foot. With a smirk, he grabbed Anger by the bandana around his neck. Leaning in close, Insanity spoke, "You know, it was fun tormenting Courage. Sure, we could have done without the whole amnesia thing but what's done is done."

  
"Fuck you!" Anger managed to yell out.

  
Insanity rolled his eyes, "Is that truly the only thing you can say right now? How boring." He then shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well, this fight was certainly one of our more fun ones. Time to end this." The demon reached one of his claws back, intending on striking Anger.

  
Anger, however, had a different idea. With a burst of strength, he used his good arm to punch Insanity in the stomach. It was strong enough to cause the demon to let go of him and as soon as Anger's feet touched the ground, he ran.

* * *

  
Anger kept running, not stopping until he reached the other side of the Imagination. Opening the door, he went through to the light side of the mindscape. Upon closing the door again, he slid down to the floor. Gasping for breath, Anger felt sick to his stomach. That demon...he'd pay for everything he did...

  
As if by some stroke of dumb luck, Anger heard footsteps nearby. They were quickly getting closer and closer. Soon enough, Anger saw a splash of white in front of him.

  
"A-Anger?!"

  
Anger looked up, seeing the face of someone he hadn't seen in ages. In response, Anger let out a bitter laugh. "Long time no see, Creativity."

  
Roman frowned at the state Anger was in and knelt down in front of him, "Anger, what happened?"

  
Anger merely cast a side glance at the prince, "I fought the bastard who took everything from me...and he won."

  
A look of realization dawned on Roman's face, "...Insanity? You fought Insanity?!"

  
Looking at him suspiciously, Anger answered, "The hell do _you_ know about Insanity?"

  
Roman shook his head, "Deceit told-"

  
Anger's eyes widened at hearing that name, " _Deceit_?! You found him?!"

  
Roman jumped back at the sudden outburst, "I...yes. It would be better if you came with me so you can get the full story from him."

  
Anger huffed as he gathered the strength to jump up onto his feet, "Let's go! I need to see my kid!"


	12. Reunions

With Roman's help, Anger made it to the commons room of the light sides. Once there, Roman sat the other side down on a chair and conjured up a first aid kit. Anger grunted in pain as his wounds were being cleaned and bandaged. The silence was making him uncomfortable and he spoke up, "Ya know, I wouldn't expect you to know anything about first aid."

  
Roman huffed slightly at that, "There are grand adventures I go on but as with any adventure, there are some not-so grand moments."

  
Anger smirked at that, "Never thought I'd see the day Mr. High and Mighty admits to something like that."

  
The prince scowled at him, "Admit to _what_?"

  
Anger merely rolled his eyes, "Admitting that even you, a _prince_ , screws up sometimes."

  
Roman remained silent at that, continuing his work. On the outside, he appeared to be concentrating but on the inside, Anger's words struck a cord in him. All those times before he and the others had accepted Virgil; all those memories were scratching at his mind, trying to rise to the surface. He knew that Virgil had forgiven them and moved on, but the prince still felt pangs of guilt sometimes.  
Finishing his work, Roman put the first aid kit aside and stood up. Eyes glancing around the room, he spoke, "I'll be back in a moment. I'm going to go get the others." With that, Roman sunk down.

* * *

  
Roman appeared in the library of the light sides, of which was currently being used as a meeting room for everyone. He glanced around at his surroundings and upon spotting the table that the others were sitting at, he walked over quickly. Andy and Remy were recounting everything they could remember about the rat hybrids while Logan was jotting it all down in a notebook. Meanwhile, Virgil was speaking with Patton and Deceit; judging by the general posture of the two dark sides and the concerned look on Patton's face, it had to be about Insanity. He cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone there.

  
"Roman?" Logan asked, putting his pen down.

  
Roman took a breath before speaking, "We have someone waiting in the commons. Particularly, he is eager to speak with Deceit."

  
Deceit and Virgil both glanced at each other, eyes seeming to ask the same question. ' _Could it be...?_ '

* * *

  
With little more than a moment's notice, everyone was suddenly in the commons, no doubt Roman's doing.

  
" _Deceit?! ANXIETY?_!"

  
Both of the dark sides turned around in shock. There, getting up from a chair, was a bandaged up Anger. Time seemed to stand still as the two took in what they were seeing. Anger, their "father", was here.

  
" _POPS_!"

  
Anger found himself suddenly hugged by the other two, the rest standing by, confusion on their faces. He grunted in pain slightly due to his injuries but soon enough had both of them in a tight embrace. "I'm here lads, I'm here... You have no idea how much I missed you both." Pulling away slightly, he took the moment to take in the sight of his sons. Anxiety had changed so much; he seemed much more confident than Anger remembered and he switched out the black and grey clothes for black and purple. As for Deceit... Deceit flinched as Anger reached a hand up to his face, touching his scales.  Hesitantly, Anger spoke, "Deceit, who... did Insanity do this to you?"

  
Deceit clenched his eyes shut as he answered without lying, "Yes."

  
Anger took a deep breath to calm himself. His rage towards Insanity could wait, right now his son needed him. Sharing a knowing glance with Anxiety, the other side nodded and spoke, "Hey guys? ...We-we'll be back in a bit."

  
Anger nodded, "There are some things we need to privately discuss as a family."

  
Remy and Andy merely nodded their acknowledgement while the light sides looked less than happy. In particular, Patton spoke up, a frown on his face and a concerned look in his eyes, "We're all family here..."

  
"I am in agreement with Patton." Logan.

  
"Padre and Specs are right." Roman.

  
Anger groaned, feeling a headache coming on. He was trying to make this easier on Deceit by having less people around. Virgil was also looking conflicted, stuck between the two groups. Finally, the anxious side spoke up, "P-Pops, I know you mean well but...we should let Dee decide."

  
A frustrated sigh came from the elder, "Deceit?"

  
Deceit opened his eyes slowly and nodded his head slightly, "I _wouldn't_ feel more comfortable staying here."

  
Patton once more spoke up, fiddling a bit with one of the sleeves of his cat hoodie, "Anger...I know you and us," he then gestured toward himself and Logan and Roman, "haven't been on the best terms over the years but we're all still family."

  
Logan took the moment to speak as well, "Patton is correct. Despite any disagreements, we are all still a part of Thomas and we all want what is best for him."

  
"And we all have a common enemy that needs to be vanquished," Roman added.

  
Patton smiled at the other two, happy that they had agreed with him. Anger leaned back in the chair, a worn-down look on his face. He glanced at Deceit and Anxiety, both of whom were smiling slightly. Sighing once more, Anger spoke, "I...suppose you're right."

  
Virgil raised an eyebrow, his smile turning into a smirk, "You " _suppose_ "?"

  
Anger gave him a look that said ' _don't start lad_ ', "Alright, alright, the three of them are right."

* * *

  
The minute the sides were busy enough talking among themselves, Andy and Remy left the house. Andy was making his way back to the light side's door to the Imagination. Remy, meanwhile, was trying to talk him out of it. "Man, come on, you should be resting!"

  
Andy growled as he kept running, "I don't care! I need to rescue the others!"

  
" _We_ will but you're still injured! What if we run into those mutants again?!" Remy shouted, trying to keep up with him.

  
Andy chose to ignore his friend and reached the door. Throwing it open, Andy rushed into the Imagination. Remy stopped running and kept looking between the direction of the door and the direction of the house. "Fuuuuck! Fuck fuck fuck! What to do, what to do?!" Relying on his gut instincts, Remy slammed the door shut before turning and running as fast as possible back to the house.

* * *

  
Andy continued running, a single destination in mind. Home. Once he got home, he could grab a few weapons from Pryce's room and go from there. 'Those rat bastards won't know what hit them!'  
Eventually reaching home, Andy grabbed one of the hidden keys and opened the door. Upon stepping through, Andy was suddenly enveloped in a hug, prompting him to try and worm his way out of it.

  
"Andy, it's alright. It's just me."

  
Andy stopped as he realized who it was, " _Dayd_?!"

  
Dayd pulled back with a smile, giving Andy space, "You're a sight for sore eyes, Andy."

  
Andy shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts, "Yeah, yeah, I could say the same...I saw you get captured by those mutants; you, Pryce, and Teal. How'd you escape? Are the others okay!?"

  
Dayd put his hands on Andy's shoulders, "Deep breaths, Andy, deep breaths." Upon seeing Andy follow his instructions and calm down a bit, he spoke up again, "The others are...well, I think it's safe to say that we've all been better, including you and Remy. Speaking of, where is he?"

  
Andy scowled, "He's safe with some friends right now. Come on, I want to see Teal and Pryce."

  
Dayd led Andy upstairs to Teal's bedroom, knocking on the door.

  
"Come in."

  
Opening the door, Dayd walked in, Andy in tow. Teal looked up from his laptop and was surprised to see Andy. "Andy? You're alright?"

  
Andy sat on the bean bag chair located in a corner of the room. "Yeah, close enough." He then noticed Pryce was asleep on Teal's bed, bandages on his arms just barely noticeable under his sleeves. Noticing Andy's scowl, Teal nodded at Dayd. Dayd shook Pryce's shoulder gently to wake him up.

  
"Hmm? What...?" Pryce groaned as he sat up groggily.

  
"Andy's home," Dayd said.

  
This got Pryce's attention quickly, "He is? Is he alright?"

  
"M'fine," Andy muttered, watching as Pryce turned to look at him. "Should be asking you that."

  
Pryce just shook his head, "Long story. Where's the Starbucks fiend?"

  
Teal blinked, "Yeah, where is Remy?"

  
Andy leaned back, "Same thing I told Dayd - he's safe with some friends for now."

  
After a while of idle chatter, Andy got around to telling his side of the story while Teal, Pryce, and Dayd told theirs. Andy told them of how Remy found him fighting against one of the mutants, how he blacked out and woke up to Remy and a group a strangers; these strangers being Remy's other friends he would mention from time to time, how these strangers were "sides"; parts of Thomas' personality and who were also stuck in this mess. Meanwhile, Teal told of how the trio woke up in a prison cell and met a madman named Insanity; Andy interrupting that he knew of Insanity from the sides. Dayd spoke of how physically strong Insanity was, strong enough to subdue Pryce. Pryce grumbled at that and said that Insanity eventually dragged them to his lab.

  
"He went on and on about his " _experiments_ " and how he started out doing them because he found them fun," Pryce stated. Teal and Dayd nodded in agreement with his statement while Andy looked appalled at what he just heard. "When he grabbed Teal's arm, I...well, I lost it. I tried to attack Insanity and got stabbed for it."

  
Teal shook his head, "You shouldn't have done that, Pryce."

  
"Nonsense! I would sooner get stabbed one hundred times over before I let that lunatic attempt anything!" Pryce shouted.

  
"Okay, okay, calm down," Dayd put a hand on Pryce's shoulder, " _please_?"

  
Pryce tensed before relaxing at the touch, "Of course. My apologies for yelling."

  
Andy looked concerned, "So how did you guys escape?"

  
"It was an...odd moment," Teal said.

  
Dayd nodded in agreement, "One minute, Pryce is yelling in pain, the next some guy with a red bandana around his neck is breaking down the door to Insanity's lab. The two looked ready to murder each other."

  
"I saw him," Andy replied.

  
The three looked confused and Pryce spoke up, "Pardon?"

  
Andy looked at them, "The guy who rescued you. Didn't stick around long enough to catch his name but he's over with the rest of the sides right now."


	13. Discussion

Deceit was running his hands through his hair, his hat laying forgotten on the floor. He was trying to keep his emotions in check for the time being. However, Anger was being persistent in talking to him about...this. Anger grabbed Deceit's hand and gently tugged them away from his head before letting go.

  
"Deceit, listen to me. What happened was _not_ your fault," Anger spoke quietly, carefully tracing the scales along Deceit's face, "Insanity is the one to blame. Regardless, these snake traits _do not_ make you a monster. You're still the caring son I've known all these years, you're still _you_."

  
Virgil placed a comforting hand on Deceit's shoulder. He had tried to speak privately to Deceit about this several times over the past weeks, but both of them knew comfort wasn't exactly Virgil's strong point. Still, he had tried his best. "Pops is right, Dee. Insanity did some messed up things to you, no one is denying that, but deep down you're still the same person we've always known. The only monster around is Insanity himself."

* * *

  
Anger had moved from the chair to the couch. On his left was Deceit and on his right was Virgil. After everything they've gone through so far, they finally had their "father" back and wanted to stay by him for a while. The other three had respected that and chose to sit on the small couch nearby. Patton sat in the middle with an arm around Logan, pulling the logical side closer to himself, and an arm around Roman's waist, who had his back pressed against Patton's other side.

  
"Alright," Anger started, "before we get to really discussing the lunatic running around, I have a question. What do any of you know about the side known as Courage?"

  
Virgil and Deceit glanced at each other over Anger's shoulders, both equally concerned. Ever since Courage disappeared, the other side would avoid bringing it up. Any time it was, he would get frustrated and disappear into his room, sometimes for days on end. The three light sides, on the other hand, were confused. They had no idea that the dark sides even knew who Courage was.

  
Finally, Logan took the initiative and spoke up, "Courage was one of us...a light side. Despite that, he always seemed to prefer staying in the Imagination over staying here at the house. We tried to ask him about it a few times but we never got a conclusive answer. Eventually, he just...stopped visiting us one day."

  
Anger nodded his head and looked over at Patton and Roman, "What about you two?"

  
"He was a good kiddo," Patton began. "When he'd visit, he'd offer to help me with chores around the house. It seems like as soon as he showed up, he'd be gone just as quick. I wish I had the chance to get to know him better."

  
Once Patton finished speaking, Roman told of what he knew. "Courage was the person I could count on when attending to problems in the Imagination. I mean no disrespect to the knights of my kingdom, but he easily outranked them. Still, as Microsoft Nerd said, he oddly preferred staying in the Imagination, beyond the kingdom's borders even." Roman sighed, "If I had known that he'd up and vanish one day, I'd have pushed more for him to come back home."

  
Anger leaned back against the couch as he took in what each of them said. "...Alright, time for an answer or two then."

  
"What are you-?" Logan was interrupted by Anger raising his hand briefly.

  
Once the logical side was silent, Anger began again, "Now, about Courage staying in the Imagination all the time...I can assure you that he wasn't. He had a home, with _us_ ," Anger gestured towards himself and Virgil and Deceit. He waited for the inevitable shock and questioning to pass before speaking once more, "I'll answer your questions after, just let me speak, this is important. As I was saying, Courage lived with us over in the dark side of the mindscape. He and I...well, he was the love of my life. ...Before he disappeared, he and I were discussing an issue he'd noticed. Courage said that there was some kind of..." _darkness_ " creeping through the Imagination and it had him worried. That night was the last time I saw him."

  
The rest of them sat there in stunned silence, even Virgil and Deceit were shocked. They knew that Courage had disappeared but that was it, Anger never made any mention of a threat that Courage saw.

"Pops..." Virgil said, "...why didn't you tell me and Deceit about that?"

  
"I was worried that if either of you knew, you'd go searching for Courage and then..." a sigh, "you have to understand, I could barely handle losing Courage. If I had lost the two of you immediately after...I don't know what I'd do."

* * *

  
Remy rushed through the front door and skidded to a halt once he saw the others. Panting, he held up his hand as Patton and Logan tried to approach him. "I'm...fine...just...give me...a minute!"

  
"You look like you just saw a monster, kiddo..." Patton said.

  
"Ha! I wish!" Remy yelled, "Andy went back to the Imagination alone!"

  
"Why...why in the world would he do something like that?" Logan asked, stunned by the statement, as were the rest of the sides. It made no sense to him.

  
"Because he's a stubborn, hot-headed jackass!" Remy pointed at Patton the minute the side opened his mouth, "Pat, you're cool and all but I swear, don't you dare call me out on my language right now."

  
"You definitely _wouldn't_ get along with him, Pops," Deceit snickered as Anger lightly punched his arm, only to be encouraged by Roman who gave him a thumbs up and a smirk.

  
Virgil shook his head at the three of them, more focused on what Remy said. "Look, if Andy's run off to the Imagination then, as much as I hate to say it, we need to follow him."

  
Anger punched his fist into his hand as he stood up, "Now that's what I like to hear! It's time for action!"

  
Logan blinked in surprise, "Anger, I _highly_ recommend you sit this out for now."

  
Anger scowled, "What?!"

  
Patton walked over and put a hand on Anger's shoulder, "Logan is right, Anger. You're still injured after all."

  
"Sorry Morality, but no," Anger stated. "I got a bone to pick with Insanity, and I ain't waiting around for a couple of wounds to take their sweet old time healing."

  
"Told you he _wouldn't_ get along with Andy," Deceit whispered to Roman, who in turn just shook his head.

  
"As a warrior myself, Anger, I can understand where you're coming from," Roman spoke up, "but even I know that pushing oneself when injured is just going to worsen things."

  
Deceit noticed the look in Anger's eyes, "Don't bother. Once Pops gets like this, there is a _high_ chance of him changing his mind."

* * *

  
"Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Andy jumped away, growling at Pryce, who was dramatically swinging his sword in the air. "You're gonna kill someone one of these days!"

  
"And that someone will be Insanity!" Pryce said as he jumped up onto the coffee table in the living room, sword pointing to the ceiling.

  
Andy just rolled his eyes, "You got a hell of a lot of other people lined up for that opportunity, Drama Dork."

  
"Pryce! Off the table!" Dayd yelled as he walked down the stairs.

  
Pryce scowled but did as he was told. Andy just rolled his eyes at that, "Like I just said - Drama Dork."

  
"So what, pray tell, is our plan of action?" Pryce asked, sheathing his sword.

  
"Um..." Dayd trailed off.

  
Andy crossed his arms, "Teal said he'd think of something."

  
"Which I have," Teal came down the stairs, a clipboard in hand. "Before anything else, we need to meet up with Remy. Assuming he's still with our counterparts, as Andy believes, then that will be the easiest step. After that, we'll need to take our chances and fight those rat hybrids. If we cause enough of a ruckus then that should lure Insanity out from wherever he is."

  
"...And what'll we do once he shows up?" Dayd asked.

  
"Our best option would be one of us luring him far enough away from his " _army_ " and then ambushing him," Teal replied.

  
"Not the most refined way of handling this..." Pryce muttered.

  
"Hey, that fucker's army got the drop on us! It's time for some payback!" Andy yelled as he jumped onto the table this time.

  
"Seriously?" Pryce deadpanned as he watched Andy.

  
"You two are exactly why the last table broke," Dayd pointed out.

  
Teal sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Guys, can we please _focus_?"

  
"I am focused!" Andy jumped off the table and headed towards the door, "Come on! I know the way!"


	14. Rematch

"Whoa!" Andy ducked out of the way as a rat hybrid slashed at him with its claws. While Andy did in fact know the correct way to get out of the Imagination, what he didn't know was that one of the hybrids would spot his gang and alert its brethren to their presence. "How are you guys holding up?!"

  
Pryce slashed several of the hybrids with his sword, staining it red with their blood. With a confident smirk, he charged at a trio of the mutants and made quick work of them. "They're not so tough now!"

  
Teal dodged out of the way, content in causing the creatures to harm themselves through their surroundings. So far, one of them tried to punch him, only to end up punching its fellow creature instead. Another was laying unconscious, having been tricked into running head first into a wall. "That's because they seem to operate best by ambushing their enemies. They may be smart but they're not smart enough."

  
Dayd rammed into one of the mutants as hard as he could. The force of it caused the creature to be sent flying forward, tripping over its own feet and landing on top of another creature. The one on the bottom began clawing at the other one in an angry rage. While the two were fighting each other, Dayd backed away towards Andy, who had taken care of the mutant that was attacking him. "You okay?"

  
"Yeah, you?" Andy asked, kicking the mutant as it tried to get back up.

  
"You know I'd prefer not having to fight," Dayd said, keeping an eye on Pryce and Teal as they fought the creatures.

  
"I get that, you're always trying to be a pacifist. Kind of don't have a choice in this though," Andy replied before rushing to help Teal, who didn't seem to notice one of the hybrids sneaking up on him.

  
"Unfortunately," Dayd groaned, following Andy's lead and rushing back into the heat of the battle.

  
As the battle waged on, more hybrids began to appear from hiding, swarming together like an angry mob. Despite this setback, each Figment was holding their own against the seemingly endless enemies. "How are you guys holding up?!" Andy yelled, drop-kicking one of the hybrids. The creature let out a yelp as it hit the ground, its claws accidentally slashing the leg of another on its way down.

  
"Hmph, I'm going to need to sharpen my sword after this is over," Pryce said. As one of the creatures lunged at him, Pryce held out his sword, letting the mutant impale itself on it. Pulling the weapon back, he kicked the body off of the blade.

  
"I'd say things are going decent enough for now," Teal responded as he dodged out of the way of a punch. The creature was then met with Dayd grabbing its wrist and twisting its arm around. It let out a loud hiss of pain, desperately trying to free itself. Instead, it was met with a kick to its back, landing face-first into the dirt.

  
" _Stay the fuck away from my family!_ " Some of the mutants looked up, one of which got tackled as it did so. Remy had it pinned to the ground, a foot on its back and Andy's switchblade in hand.

  
"Remy?!" Andy then noticed what the other figment was holding, "Why the hell do you have my switchblade?!"

  
Remy merely grinned, "Nabbed it off of you a while ago...and kind of forgot I still had it on me."

  
A loud screech rang through the air and was then followed by several hisses. Anger had grabbed one of the creatures by the arms and flung it into a group of them. There was a scowl on his face, his teeth barred, and a fire in his eyes. Nearby, Deceit and Virgil were fighting side by side, as if it came naturally to them.

  
Pryce was holding off a particularly stubborn mutant with his sword. Despite the slashes littering its body, it wouldn't stay down. While he was preoccupied with the mutant in front of him, another one was sneaking up behind him. As soon as the mutant got close enough, it raised its claws and let out an angry yell. He kicked the enemy in front of him away and turned around as soon as the creature's claws were coming down.  However, the creature was stopped dead in its tracks, a sword slashing down its back. The mutant crumbled to the ground, blood pooling around it. Who was standing there shocked Pryce; it was his counterpart. Roman merely gave him a smirk and a wink before turning his attention to the rest of the mutants.

  
During all the commotion, Remy regrouped with Logan and Patton. Logan had a pistol in hand while Patton had a bow and a quiver of arrows. Each item had been conjured up before they entered the Imagination. "How're you two handling those weapons?" Remy asked, leaning against the nearest wall as he caught his breath.

  
"Under normal circumstances, there is no reason I would be using a gun for any reason. Given the current situation, I am left with little choice in the matter," Logan replied, aiming at one of the hybrids and shooting it in the torso.

  
"I feel like Cupid!" Patton said, shooting an arrow and hitting one of the creatures in the leg. "...Well, if Cupid was dangerous...I just want this to be over soon, I'm not really comfortable with fighting."

  
Remy was about to speak when a mutant leapt out of the shadows and tackled him to the ground in an ironic echo of Remy's earlier stunt.

  
" _Remy!_ "

  
Both sides attempted to aim their weapons at the mutant. However, two more mutants appeared behind them. Quickly, the creatures were holding Logan's and Patton's arms behind their backs, forcing them to drop the weapons. Remy growled and struggled against the mutant, attempting to get back on his feet, to no avail. "Aw hell no! I am _not_ dying today! Let alone like this!"

  
The two mutants that had grabbed Logan and Patton suddenly let them go. Confused, they looked back and saw Anger had an iron grip on the creatures. With a growl, he threw both of them as far away as he could. Hearing a hiss and an " _about time!_ " come from Remy, their attention turned back to him, surprise forming on their faces at the sight. With an angry scowl, Dayd flung the mutant to the ground, watching as it hit its head hard enough to knock it out. Meanwhile, Teal was helping Remy up, "Easy there, Starbucks."

  
Remy merely grumbled, "You two sure took your sweet old time to help me."

  
Teal shook his head at Remy's sudden grumpiness, "Once this is over you can have as much coffee as you want. Just tone down the attitude right now."

  
Suddenly, an eerie silence fell over the Imagination. The hybrids stopped in their tracks and started running off into the distance. There was a tense stillness in the air as the Imagination's sky started to turn dark. A thick fog began to appear, limiting everyone's vision. Through the fog, they could just barely make out the form of someone standing in the middle of it.

  
" _I was wondering if the lot of you were stupid enough to return_."

  
Anger growled at the voice while Deceit and Virgil visibly tensed, "Insanity! Show yourself you fucking coward!"

  
"A coward? I'm not the one who ran away from our fight, now am I?" Insanity stepped forward, red eyes glowing and a smirk on his face that gave off a glimpse of sharp teeth. "All I had to do was mention Courage and you-!" Anger rushed forward, cutting Insanity off with a sucker punch to the face. The mad doctor stumbled back from the impact and a quick kick to the same spot sent him to the ground. Getting up, he spit blood out of his mouth.

  
Seeing another punch headed towards him, Insanity threw one of his hands up, blocking the attack. Narrowing his eyes, he let out an inhuman growl and pulled Anger towards himself.  As soon as the other side was close enough, Insanity grabbed the bandana around his neck and started choking Anger with it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Deceit and Virgil rushing towards the two of them. With a smirk, he threw Anger at the two before walking over, standing above them. "Well well, it seems this is turning into a good old family reunion." Looking around, he then spotted the rest of the group. "Oh and the " _Light Sides_ " are here as well! I see you've ran into the so-called " _protectors_ " of this place!"

  
Deceit jumped to his feet while Virgil helped Anger up, the elder coughing as he caught his breath. Nearby, Roman stood protectively in front of Logan and Patton, his sword drawn and ready to strike the doctor at the opportune moment. Meanwhile, the Figments were rallied around Andy, waiting for their leader's orders.

  
Insanity merely laughed a bit, "Well, let's say I complete this little reunion, eh?" With a flick of his wrist, dark energy appeared from his hand and swirled to the ground next to him.  Spreading out, the silhouette of a figure began to form. Once the figure properly took shape, Insanity clenched his hand into a fist and the energy dispersed. Laying there was the unconscious form of a person the other sides thought they'd never see again...

  
" _COURAGE?!_ "


	15. Chaos

Anger's eyes widened in utter disbelief. After all this time, he finally got the chance to see Courage again. Without a second thought, he rushed towards his boyfriend's body. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a bolt of dark energy hitting the ground in between the two. Immediately he growled out one word, " _Insanity_..."

  
"Uh uh uh," Insanity shook his finger at Anger. "You really think I'm going to hand him over just like that? Don't make me laugh."

  
Anger lunged at Insanity, intending on strangling the other side. His attack was interrupted by a kick to the stomach. Falling to his knees, Anger looked up and was stunned by who attacked him. "C-Courage?!"

  
Courage stared down at him, his eyes the same glowing red as Insanity's. There was a twisted grin on his face as he lifted Anger up by the front of his tank top. Insanity stared at them, sick amusement on his face, "Courage works for me now. Honestly, that memory restoration couldn't have come at a better time."

  
" _You sick bastard!_ "

  
Insanity looked over and just barely ducked out of the way of a punch from Deceit. Dodging attack after attack, Insanity jumped away. However, Deceit was not about to give up, not by a long shot. "Hmm...it seems I may have enhanced your innate abilities a bit too much," Insanity muttered before blocking one of Deceit's fist with his arm. "Ah well, I've made quite the leap in my hybridization project once we had our fun."

  
"Fun...FUN?! IS THIS _NOT_ ALL A GAME TO YOU?!" Deceit yelled as he grabbed one of Insanity's arms.

  
Insanity twisted his arm free and quickly elbowed Deceit in the chest, "The experiments? _Yes_. Being the only one left so I can finally possess your host? _No_. That is very serious to me."

  
Grunting in pain, Deceit's eyes widened as he heard what Insanity planned to do. Overcome by fury, Deceit tackled Insanity to the ground and had his hands around the doctor's throat. As Insanity struggled against Deceit, he managed to get just enough leverage with his legs and kick the other side hard enough that Deceit let go of him, yelling in pain. Insanity quickly got back on his feet and with a snap of his fingers, the rat hybrids were back, swarming the battlefield. The minute Deceit looked back towards the others in a panic, Insanity used the moment to kick him hard enough in the back to send him to his knees.

  
" _Pathetic_."

* * *

  
While the others were fairing slightly better against the rat hybrids this time, Anger was a different story. The others were too busy to see it but Anger was holding back in his fight against Courage. Dodging a punch from Courage, Anger grabbed him from behind, attempting to hold him still. "Courage... _Arlo_! It's me! _Aiden_!" Courage's struggling slowed for a moment at the mention of those names.

  
"... _Arlo_?" Anger was met with Courage kicking his leg behind himself, hitting Anger hard enough that his grip was loosened. Courage then slipped down and out from Anger's arms, drop-kicking the other side after. Glaring down at him, Courage finally spoke.

  
"Stop holding back."

  
Anger had a surprised look on his face, "What?"

  
Courage reached down and hoisted Anger up by his bandana. He stared into Anger's panicked eyes as he spoke. "I can tell you're an experienced fighter, yet you have the nerve to hold back in our fight."

  
"Arlo, don't do this," Anger pleaded with him, desperate to break through to Courage. However, that plea went ignored as Courage threw him roughly to the ground.

* * *

  
Teal found himself near Logan, both of them cornered by a group of the mutants. Quickly glancing around at them, Teal clenched his hands into fists, ready to fight. Meanwhile, Logan gripped his pistol tightly in his hand.

  
"You know how to fight?" Teal whispered to Logan, never taking his eyes off of the enemies.

  
Logan hesitated before answering his counterpart, "Physically? That would be a negative."

  
"Cover me then," Teal said before rushing forward.

  
"What?!" Logan stared in shock after him. Shaking his head, he quickly came to his senses and aimed, shooting at any and every mutant that attempted a sneak attack.

* * *

  
Remy dodged out of the way of sharp claws and eager teeth. Dayd had come up with the idea to use the environment against the mutants. This entailed Remy taunting them into focusing on him and dodged out of the way once they were close enough to the trees. Several mutants had tackled head first into the trees while others got their claws and teeth stuck in the wood. Meanwhile, Dayd would handle any of the mutants that were a bit too smart for their own good. Any mutants that the two couldn't handle were shot with arrows by, albeit reluctantly, Patton, who was keeping watch from a tree branch.

  
"Man, these freaks don't know when to give up, do they?" Remy complained as he ducked out of the way while one of the creatures slashed at him with his claws.

  
" _Focus_ Remy," Dayd responded as he grabbed the aforementioned creature's arm and twisted it until a cracking noise was just barely heard over its screams.

  
"...For a so-called pacifist, that was pretty damn brutal," Remy remarked, "...and I _am_ focused!"

  
Patton kept himself busy, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. If he were to be honest at the moment, he didn't know whether to be in awe of his counterpart or intimidated. ' _Maybe a bit of both?_ '

  
Suddenly, he heard a growl coming from down below. One of the mutants had caught sight of him in the trees and was making its way up. In a panic, he shot an arrow at the creature as soon as it leaped at him, resulting in both of them falling from the tree. Patton closed his eyes, expecting to be met with intense pain, only for them to fly open when he felt someone catch him.

  
"Easy there, I got you," Dayd helped Patton back down to his feet, steadying the shaking side.

  
"That bastard didn't hurt you, did it?" Remy called over, dealing with the last of the mutants that followed them.

  
Patton shook his head, still a bit in shock from the surprise attack, "N-no. No, I'm fine kiddo."

* * *

  
" _Watch it_!"

  
A yowl of pain was heard as Andy kicked one of the mutants away from Pryce. "That thing was ready to take your damn head off!"

  
Pryce slashed a group of mutants with his sword, leaving them scrambling away in a panic. Quickly turning upon hearing Andy, Pryce readied his sword as the creature on the ground got back up. "Well then, I shall return the favor."

  
Roman glanced over at the two before paling and quickly focusing back on the enemies near him. The sound of what was clearly a decapitation rang in his ears. "One must do what is necessary in this case..." Roman muttered to himself, stabbing one of the creatures.

  
"I'm definitely going to be seeing that in my nightmares," Andy deadpanned as Pryce stepped away from the creature's body.

  
"I assure you both," Pryce remarked, making sure Roman heard him as well, "I take no pleasure in having to resort to such barbaric tactics."

* * *

  
Virgil had finally caught up to Deceit. Upon seeing the other side on the ground, he rushed over. "Deceit?!"

  
Deceit groaned as he slowly got up. Upon realizing Virgil was there, a shocked expression crossed his face. "Virgil?! Are you _not_ crazy?! Get back to the others!"

  
Virgil grabbed his arm, "The others got the upper hand on those mutants and Pops is dealing with Courage. You're the one that needs my help right now!"

  
" _You're going to need all the help you can get once I'm done with both of you._ "

  
Both sides looked up and saw Insanity; dark energy forming in his hand. With a smirk, Insanity formed the energy into a ball and quickly threw it at them. Upon seeing the attack, Virgil's instincts kicked in and shoved Deceit out of the way, taking the full brunt of the attack. Deceit stood there stunned as Virgil let out a blood-chilling yell and collapsed.

  
" _VIRGIL_!" Deceit ran over to the fallen side and knelt down next to him. He pressed two fingers to Virgil's neck to check his pulse. ' _It's weak but it's there..._ '

  
" _Such a shame. That attack was meant for both of you._ "

  
Deceit glared up at Insanity, nothing in his eyes but utter hatred for the demon. Distantly, he could hear running and someone shouting his name. Never taking his eyes off of Insanity, Deceit carefully picked Virgil up, holding him protectively. Once the shouting got louder, he recognized the voice as Roman's.

  
Despite Roman's panicked questioning, Deceit merely handed Virgil over to the prince. " _Don't_ get him to safety. Now!" He then turned back to Insanity, staring down the mad doctor, ready to kill him at any given opportunity.

  
Insanity merely smirked and shook his finger at Deceit, "Temper, temper." Hearing the growl that came from the other side just made the doctor's smirk widen.

  
" _This will be fun_."

* * *

  
Anger knelt down next to Courage, clearly unhappy. He had no choice but to fight his loved one, words alone not enough to break Insanity's hold over Courage. With a sigh, Anger picked Courage up and looked over at the battlefield. Mutants were scattered about, dead or dying. Those that weren't had since run off to who knows where. Suddenly, he saw Roman rushing towards Logan and Patton. He felt his blood run cold when he saw that the prince was carrying an unconscious Virgil in his arms and Deceit was nowhere in sight.

  
" _No..._ "


	16. Interlude

Anger was sitting in a chair next to one of the beds that was quickly conjured up in the library. The bed next to him was occupied by Courage, his arms and legs restrained to the bed. He originally opposed that but the point was raised that until the other side woke up, they'd have no way of knowing the current state of Insanity's control over him. Sighing, he looked over at the other bed, where Virgil lied.

  
The anxious side had his wounds taken care of by Logan and Teal. Roman was too shocked to offer any help with that and Patton...it bothered him to see Patton break down like that. Speaking of, the moral side was asleep on one of the library couches near Virgil's bed, curled up as close as possible to the sleeping Roman and Logan. When he heard the door open quietly, Anger looked up and saw Dayd walk down the steps, a mug in hand.

  
"Here," Dayd whispered, handing the mug to Anger, "it's chamomile tea. It usually calms Andy down so I figured it'd help."

  
Nodding, Anger took the mug and drank a few sips of the tea, watching as Dayd pulled up a chair next to him and sat down. "What's the current roll call?"

  
Dayd titled his head back, closing his eyes as he spoke, "Andy, Remy, and Pryce stayed behind in the Imagination to track down Deceit and Insanity. Teal and I agreed that it would be better for us to stay behind and keep an eye on things here."

  
Anger took another sip from his mug before speaking, "...I suppose that was the right call, all things considered."

  
Both of them looked up when the door was opened once more, seeing a rather-tired looking Teal standing there. The teacher had a few blankets in his arms and stopped by the couch the sides were sleeping on, laying a blanket over each one. He then walked over to Dayd and Anger, leaning his arms on the back of Dayd's chair. "How are they?"

  
Anger sighed, "Neither of them have so much as moved an inch in their sleep."

  
Teal shot a concerned glance at Anger, "What about you?"

  
"...I honestly couldn't tell you. It's like my mind is racing but everything else is at a standstill," Anger replied after a few minutes.

  
"I think it would help if you got some sleep," Dayd looked at Anger as well, "at least it'll calm your nerves for a bit."

  
The side just rubbed under his eyes in response, "I don't think sleeping is going to be possible right now." Upon seeing the looks both figments were giving him, he sighed and got up, placing his mug on the bedside table, "Alright, alright, I'll _try_ to get some sleep."

  
The two watched as Anger went over to one of the other couches and lied down, his back to the rest of the room. Gently, Dayd put a hand on Teal's arm, getting the teacher's attention. "That goes for you too, Teal."

  
"You're one to talk, you look just as tired as I do," Teal responded. He grinned slightly as Dayd tried to stifle a yawn, "See?"

  
Dayd just hummed quietly in response before getting up. Walking past Teal, he tapped the teacher on the shoulder, motioning for him to follow. Teal got the cue and followed Dayd over to the last free couch. Once the other figment got comfortable, the teacher carefully climbed over him, laying down with his head resting on the other's chest. He could feel Dayd start to run his fingers through his hair, the sensation causing his eyes to drift close.

  
"Feels nice?" Dayd whispered.

  
"Mmhm," Teal tiredly mumbled out, snuggling as close as he could to the other figment. Dayd was warm and just being near him was comforting to the teacher.

  
With a smile, Dayd wrapped his free arm around Teal, holding him close.

  
Sometime in the middle of the night, Anger awoke to the sound of someone whimpering. Getting up, he at first thought it was Virgil. Walking over to the beds, however, showed him that Virgil was sound asleep, leaving...

  
"Arlo?" Anger whispered, reaching out to gently hold Courage's hand in his own. He felt Courage's grip tighten and the whimpering continued, more frequently this time. Grabbing his chair, Anger pulled it over so he could sit next to the bed. "Hey, hey, Arlo...it's alright, it's just me," he whispered, silently glaring at the restraints attached to the bed.

  
Stroking his thumb across Courage's hand, Anger sighed as he tried to think of a way to calm Courage down. Getting comfortable in the chair, an idea came to him. Opening his mouth, Anger began to quietly sing to Courage, hoping it would help. " _Oh Holy land, come ancient spirit, take up my hand, and guide me..._ "

  
Courage's grip started to loosen around his hand. Taking this as a good sign, Anger continued, " _Pull me to shore, rivers are rising, look in this heart, and find me..._ "

  
Focused on the task at hand, Anger didn't even notice that one of the other sides was starting to wake up. " _I've lost my way, your voice is silent, I need you here, to remind me.  Show me now, how to find my home, all I am, surrender. Let the water flow right through this broken soul..._ "

  
Patton blinked wearily as he woke up. Looking up at the wall clock, it read _2:20 AM_. For a moment, he was confused about where he was until realized that Logan and Roman were both cuddled up to him. ' _In the library...?_ ' When he saw the bed that Virgil was laying in, everything came rushing back to him. Desperate to not wake anyone up, Patton bit down on his lip to keep his crying from being heard.

  
" _I fought by your side, ashes still burning, I proved my worth, so tell me why..._ "

  
Patton blinked back his tears and looked around. He swore he just heard someone quietly singing. Spotting Anger sitting next to Courage's bed, Patton realized it was coming from him. He stared a bit awestruck as Anger continued to sing to Courage.

  
" _I've lost my way, your voice is silent, I need you here, to remind me. Show me now, how to find my home, all I am, surrender..._ "

  
Anger could tell that Courage was starting to calm down. While the other side still had a hold on his hand, the whimpering had died down for the most part. " _Tell me that you can forgive, bring me peace that I may live. Show me now, how to find my home, all I am, surrender..._ "

  
Slowly, Patton began to drift off, Anger's singing lulling him to sleep. Tiredly, he snuggled closer to Roman and Logan. All the while, Anger's singing slowly came to an end, " _Oh sweet rest, find me at my home, stay with me, forever. Let the water flow right through this broken soul..._ "

  
As Anger finished, he fell asleep in the chair, not once letting go of Courage's hand for the rest of the night.

  
Once morning came, Anger was startled awake by the feeling of a sudden presence in the library. Glancing around, he noticed the others were awake as well, all in varying states of confusion or surprise. It was when they heard a voice speak that they all snapped to attention.

  
"...What in the world is going on?!" Thomas was standing in the doorway of the library, looking confused beyond belief.

  
The other sides scrambled off the couch and approached him.

  
"Uh, h-hey kiddo." _Patton_.

  
"Thomas, we can explain..." _Logan_.

  
"It's not safe for you to be in the mindscape right now!" _Roman_.

  
Thomas put his hands up, trying to get the three to slow down. "One at a time guys, one at a time!" Confusion returned to his face when he saw two others approach him. "Teal?! Dayd?!"

  
The sides turned back to look at the two figments. Dayd had his arms crossed with a look that told them to give Thomas his space. Meanwhile, Teal just raised an eyebrow as he looked at Thomas.

  
"Hey boss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used in this chapter is "This Broken Soul" by Rebecca Kneubuhl and was the credits song for The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night.


	17. Interlude - Part 2

"Alright, let me get this straight. There are sides that none of you told me about," Tomas pointed to Anger, "and he is one of them."

  
Anger nodded his head, a scowl on his face.

  
Thomas then pointed to Courage, looking concerned, "and he's another. What happened to him and Virgil?"

  
Patton and Logan glanced at Roman, waiting for him to answer in regards to Virgil. Roman took a deep breath before he spoke, "I didn't get there in time to see exactly what happened. I just saw Deceit holding Virgil while Insanity was...well, living up to his name."

  
"And those two are sides as well, I'm assuming," Thomas replied.

  
Anger suddenly stood up from the table he was sitting at, slamming his fists down. "Insanity _isn't_ a side! He's a literal fucking _demon_ that needs to be stopped!"

  
Everyone else was startled by Anger's sudden outburst. Anger held up his hand as Patton tried to approach him. Looking Thomas in the eyes, he gestured towards Courage. "That is Courage and he went missing a long while ago; we recently found out that he was the first one Insanity targeted. I've been searching for him for what seems like an eternity and it turns out that bastard was behind his disappearance! Then, I find out that he's the reason Virgil disappeared from the dark side of the mindscape and that he pulled the same fucking stunt with Deceit! Now, he and Deceit are who fucking knows where! He's messed with my family for too fucking long!"

* * *

  
Deceit groaned as he woke up. His head was pounding and it felt like the room he was in was spinning. He tried to move his hands in order to rub his eyes but found that his wrists were shackled to a wall. "What...?" Looking down, he saw that his ankles were shackled as well, effectively keeping him stuck on the floor.

  
" _Well, well, look who's finally awake._ "

  
He raised his head slightly, realizing that he was in a prison cell. Beyond the cell bars stood Insanity, a bored expression on his face. Deceit just groaned again as his head fell, the pounding feeling worse the more awake he became.

  
Insanity merely rolled his eyes in response, "You gave me one hell of a fight in the Imagination and just look at you now." The doctor unlocked the cell and walked over to Deceit, kneeling down so he was eye level with the dark side. "Look at me."

  
Deceit refused to do as Insanity said, "Fuck off!"

  
The doctor growled and gripped Deceit's chin, forcing the dark side to look at him. "Listen here, _freak_. You and your friends may have wiped out most of my mutant army but that doesn't matter now. I have my memories back and with that, my powers."

  
Deceit  began to struggle against the shackles, "And why the fuck are you telling me that?"

  
Insanity glared at him, "Because you get the special honor of being the last one left. You'll get to see everyone you care about die by my hands. Best of all? You shall get to witness my glorious takeover of this human's body."

  
"YOU SICK BASTARD! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE-!"

  
He was cut off by a sudden sharp pain to his scales. Insanity had taken one of his gloves off, revealing sharp claws, and slashed his face with them. Deceit could feel the blood dripping down his face as he gasped in pain. Standing up, Insanity put the glove back on and sneered, "Good luck with that, _freak_."

* * *

  
Thomas was sitting in one of the chairs, his arms cross and expression unreadable. Everything was a lot to take in at once but at the same time, it gave him some much needed answers. Why everything has essentially been radio-silence from the sides, why the figments had seemingly been ignoring his attempts to summon them from the Imagination, why he was... "I've been experiencing strange _things_ in the outside world."

  
A flash of concern crossed everyone's face. After a few moments, Patton spoke up, "...What kind of things, kiddo?"

  
Thomas hesitated before answering, "I keep...seeing things - things that aren't really there. And I've been hearing a voice in my head that I know I've never heard before. Everything it tells me...it's like I can feel the malevolence coming from it."

  
A stunned silence followed for several minutes. Eventually, Anger was the one who spoke up, " That's all Insanity's doing."

  
Thomas looked at him, "How can you be so sure?"

  
Anger merely glared at the wall while speaking, "I told you all earlier. Insanity isn't a side, he is a literal demon. A demon who needs to either be expelled or destroyed."

* * *

  
In the other end of the Imagination, the door to the dark side of the mindscape was opened. Looking around, Andy gave the all clear for Remy and Pryce to follow him. As they walked down the hallway to the dark side commons, non of them could deny that there was an eerie feeling permeating throughout.

  
"This place is giving me the creeps," Remy complained, "how the hell can anyone stand living here?"

  
Andy merely shrugged, determined to appear fearless for the sake of the other two. ' _I'm the leader for a reason. I can't afford to be scared._ '

  
Pryce offered Remy an answer, "It's most likely that fiend's doing. I wouldn't put it past him to resort to whatever means necessary to intimidate others."

  
"Yeah, well he's sure doing a good job of it," Remy grumbled.

  
"Fret not, Remy, I shall protect you," Pryce replied, unsheathing his sword as a precaution.

  
"Try not to stab either of us," Andy remarked, focusing on the way ahead. "The last way I want to die is through irony."

  
Pryce made an offended noise at that, "I am a skilled swordsman! I assure you, that will not happen."

  
Remy snickered at Pryce while Andy felt a smirk crossing his face. Upon arriving at the commons, the trio looked around. It's clear that it had been deserted for a while and they noticed that the eerie feeling felt stronger than before. Down one of the hallways, they saw a faint light and Andy started walking again.

  
Remy rushed after him, "Hey, wait a minute! We're here to find Deceit, right? So what if we find Insanity instead?"

  
Pryce blinked and followed them, having been caught up looking around the commons. "If we find that scoundrel then I shall distract him. That villain won't know what hit him!"

  
Andy growled, the cold feeling of fear coursing through him, "If we find that bastard, we make sure he _doesn't_ notice us. Our goal is to rescue Deceit, _got it_?"

  
Pryce scowled at Andy's decision while Remy agreed; he just wanted out of here as fast as possible.

  
Reaching the room where the light was coming from, Andy quietly opened the door and saw that it was the dark side library. Remy peeked over Andy's shoulder and looked around. "Sheesh, this place is massive," Remy remarked. "We're really gonna spend time searching this place?"

  
"We don't know where Insanity or Deceit are in this part of the mindscape. We're going to have to search this place eventually, might as well get it over with now," Andy said.

  
"If it helps matters, this place looks vaguely familiar during my brief time spent as Insanity's prisoner," Pryce added.

  
Andy tensed at that, the thought taking hold in his mind. ' _All the more reason that bastard needs to be stopped..._ '


	18. Courage

Courage felt like he was falling in an endless abyss. Everywhere he looked, nothing but darkness greeted him. At this point, he had no idea how much time had passed or if time even existed at all in this disturbing place. He tried to concentrate, to think, but all that came to mind were fuzzy memories. These memories confused him; he could see himself clearly but anything else was like a blur. Desperately, he tried to remember what led him to this point.

  
' _You were a fool to come here, human_.'

  
"That voice!" Courage shouted, taken aback by a group of memories suddenly becoming clear. He focused on what his mind was reliving, hoping for some kind of answer.

  
_He grunted in pain as the demon grabbed him by the throat. Courage struggled desperately, trying to break the demon's grasp. It was quickly getting hard for him to breath._

  
Courage let out a gasp as his hand flew up to his throat. He felt nothing there except for the touch of his glove. "What the hell was that...that _monster_?" After calming down a bit, he forced himself to focus back on the memories.

  
_In a moment, the demon dissolved back into its original shadow state. As Courage got up onto his knees, the shadow charged at him. It disappeared into his body and Courage let out an agonized scream, falling forward. Darkness seeped out from his eyes and mouth, circling around him, tormenting him with dark energy. With a demonic roar escaping from him, the demon took over._

  
Courage felt his blood run cold and shook his head, desperate to drive the memory away. That was the very last thing he remembered, the last thing he experienced before ending up... _here_. As if flood gates were opened, all of his memories became clear at once. Gripping his hair, Courage let out a yell of pain as he felt himself being... "Summoned? By who?!"

  
Despite his best efforts, the pain was overpowering him. The darkness swirled around him, forcefully taking control, leaving him trapped in his own body. ' _Just like before...!_ ' This time was different, however, as he felt like his body was being ripped in half.

  
He didn't know when he fell unconscious, he just knew that when he awoke, the darkness was still in control of his body but the demon's presence had otherwise vanished. ' _What?_ '

  
" _Uh uh uh. You really think I'm going to hand him over just like that? Don't make me laugh._ "

  
That voice! That demon! If he could just regain control of his own body, he'd make the demon regret every foul thing he's ever done! However, fate would not be in his favor for the time being. To his shock, the darkness used his body to kick someone that tried to attack the demon.

  
" _C-Courage?!_ "

  
While his body looked down, Courage was stunned by the voice he heard. ' _AIDEN?!_ ' The love of his life was here?! Fighting that monster?! However, when his body lifted Anger up, and that demon spoke...

  
" _Courage works for me now._ "

  
If Courage were in control of his body, he'd feel physically sick at hearing those words. He wanted to deny that the demon would be demented enough to force the two to fight but Courage knew that he couldn't. Once more, he tried to fight as hard as he could but the darkness was overpowering.

  
" _You sick bastard!_ "

  
He barely heard those words be shouted as the darkness began fighting Anger. ' _Th-that sounded like...Deceit? That monster dragged him into this as well!?_ ' Focusing back on the fight in front of him for now, Courage was able to instantly tell that Anger was holding back. ' _Aiden, no! Don't hold back because of me!_ '

  
At some point, Anger managed to grab onto him. " _Courage...Arlo! It's me! Aiden!_ " Hearing Anger say Courage's real name left him with a renewed determination. Anger clearly still cared about him and Courage knew that his feelings for the other side never once changed since this whole mess started. With one final attempt, Courage fought back against the darkness, weakening it enough for him to get a minor foothold back into control of his own body.

  
The next thing he knew, he was back in the abyss. Realizing that he had failed, Courage let his emotions overtake him. He had tried so, so hard but it still wasn't enough. Closing his eyes, Courage was ready to surrender to the darkness once and for all.

  
' _Oh Holy land, come ancient spirit, take up my hand, and guide me..._ '

  
Courage's eyes snapped open upon hearing those words. That song...he remembered how he would sing it to himself when he couldn't get to sleep. As the singing continued, he realized that the voice singing it was..."Aiden." Slowly, the darkness seemed like it was starting to dissipate and Courage eventually landed on what he assumed was solid land.

  
' _I've lost my way, your voice is silent, I need you here, to remind me. Show me now, how to find my home, all I am, surrender..._ '

  
Standing up on shaky legs, Courage looked around. As the darkness continued to ebb away, a light began to illuminate the area. Confusion soon took over as Courage saw himself laying unconscious nearby. Slowly, he walked over and noticed darkness fading from the body as well.

  
' _Tell me that you can forgive, bring me peace that I may live. Show me now, how to find my home, all I am, surrender..._ '

  
Courage furrowed his brows as he knelt down. As he moved a hand towards the body, he noticed both were glowing with the same light. Hesitating for only a moment, Courage placed his hand on the body and the glowing grew brighter.

  
' _Oh sweet rest, find me at my home, stay with me, forever. Let the water flow right through this broken soul..._ '

  
Eventually, the light enveloped the entire area. Once it dimmed, only the body remained, gently glowing. After some time, everything disappeared as a person awoke. With a confused and tired look, he forced himself to speak. "Aiden?"

  
" _ARLO!_ "


	19. Interlude - Part 3

Anger rushed over to the bed where Courage was and quickly undid the restraints. When the others tried to protest, Anger merely growled at them in response. They watched as Anger proceeded to hug Courage, surprised at how gentle he was being despite his current energetic disposition.

  
Courage took several deep breaths to calm himself before returning Anger's hug. He buried his face into Anger's shoulder, taking in the familiar scent of his beloved. "I...I heard you, Aiden."

  
Anger put his hands on Courage's shoulders and pushed him back enough to look him in the eyes, concern on his face. "What are you talking about?"

  
"When I was asleep... I-I've been fighting Insanity's influence for so long. Even...even during that hellish fight with you," Courage shut his eyes as he started to breathe faster. "I was ready to just...give up, to let _him_ win."

  
Anger looked mortified at the thought, " _Arlo._.."

  
The other side clung to him, once more hiding his face, desperate to be as close to Anger as he possibly could at the moment. "But then I heard _you_... You gave me the strength to fight one more time; you drove the darkness away."

  
Hours later and there was still no word nor sight of Andy, Pryce, or Remy. The others were discussing what their next course of action should be, all except for Courage and Anger. Courage was standing by the bed Virgil was laying in, hands behind his back and a scowl on his face. Anger had a hand placed on Courage's shoulder, a tired look in his eyes.

  
"What happened to him?" Courage asked, not taking his eyes off of the anxious side.

  
Anger growled slightly, "Not sure exactly, just know that it's Insanity's fault."

  
Courage closed his eyes, clearly thinking about something, "Too many have gotten hurt because of that demon. You mentioned something about him having an army?"

  
"Used to - bunch of rat/human hybrids. Most of 'em are dead though," Anger grinned slightly. It may not have done much overall to Insanity but a victory was still a victory.

  
"Good," Courage opened his eyes again and looked back at Anger. "Where has Insanity been staying at this whole time?"

  
Anger blinked in surprise, "He keeps showing up in the Imagination but then he disappears..." A look of realization struck him and he smacked his hand to his head in frustrated disbelief. "The dark side of the mindscape! Without me, Virgil, and Deceit there, he's had the whole place to himself!"

  
Courage took Anger's hand away from his head, "Don't do that, the stress has clearly been taking its toll on you. We know where he is and by extension we know where Deceit and the others are. We can make a decent plan out of this."

* * *

  
"The hell happened back in the Imagination?"

  
Deceit tiredly looked over at Andy, the figment having been thrown into the same cell as him while Pryce and Remy were stuck in the one across from them. " _Don't_ be more specific."

  
Andy glared up at the ceiling, having spent the last half hour or so trying to free himself from the shackles around his wrists and ankles. "How did Virgil get injured so badly?"

  
The side remained silent for a few moments, "... Insanity used his powers to attack both of us but Virgil shoved me out of the way. He _didn't_ take the full force of the attack."

  
After Deceit spoke, the place was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Both Andy's and Pryce's expressions were unreadable and Remy, he supposed, looked shocked. It was honestly kind of hard to tell by facial expression alone, when the sleep figment  seemed to never take his sunglasses off.

  
"Holy fuck," Remy muttered while Pryce halfheartedly glared at him.

  
"Eloquent, as always," Pryce remarked sarcastically.

  
Remy surprisingly chose to ignore that remark, not having the energy to get into an argument at the moment. Silence soon fell across the cells again, each prisoner lost in their own thoughts. Once more, it was the sleep figment that broke it. "Hey Deceit, you got a real name?" The other three just looked at him, confused at the out of nowhere question. They were merely met with a shrug in response, "The other sides got real names; I'm just curious."

  
"My name is _not_ Mendax."

* * *

  
Insanity growled as he looked around the library. That kerfuffle earlier had left the place quite a mess. In particular, the bookshelf that served as cover for the passageway to his prison cells would need to be either repaired or replaced with something else.

  
"Fuck it. I'm not wasting my time with that."

  
He's the only one left here other than his prisoners, he reasoned with himself. "Besides, even if anyone else is foolish enough to come here..." Insanity took off one of his gloves and admired his clawed hand, "they won't be leaving." As if to prove his point, he grabbed a book from the floor and tossed it into the air. Quickly, he slashed the book to shreds with his claws.

* * *

  
"Alright, we need focus on a plan," Courage said, looking around at everyone. "Insanity's army has been basically destroyed so we don't have to worry about that at least. Aiden and I know where the others are."

  
The others glanced around to each other, some looked confused, some looked hopeful. Thomas was the first to speak, "Are you sure, guys?"

  
Anger crossed his arms and spoke gruffly, "Sure as possible, Tom. They're over at the dark side of the mindscape. Insanity's had free-reign over that place for close to a month now."

  
"By that reasoning, he would be able to tell when someone is there the minute they arrive," Logan added. "Even with several different plans, he would have the upper hand."

  
"Not necessarily," everyone's attention turned towards Teal. "Whatever the plan - as long as the lunatic is kept distracted, things could go off without a hitch."

  
An uncomfortable silence surrounded them at the thought of that. While it did make sense, enough people had been needlessly hurt by the demon already. That was something they all wanted desperately to avoid at this point.

  
"You can't possibly be serious," Roman said. "Our goal is to rescue the others and put a stop to that vile fiend."

  
"Which can't be done without people getting injured," Anger interjected. "Look, I don't like that thought as much as the next guy but we need to do _something_."

  
Feeling the quiet distress coming from Patton, Thomas gave him a sympathetic look, interrupting the other two before an argument could break out. " _If_ , and only _if_ , we were to choose someone to distract this Insanity guy, who would it even be?"

  
The room once more descended into silence, his question lingering in the air.

  
With a sigh, Dayd spoke two words, "I would."

  
While everyone else stared at the figment in confusion and disbelief, Teal glanced at Dayd briefly before looking back at everyone else. "So would I."

  
"Guys...you can't be serious-" Thomas was interrupted.

  
"Thomas, listen," Dayd looked straight at him, determination in his eyes, "that bastard captured the rest of our family and is probably doing God knows what to them. You of all people know that I hate fighting but like hell if I'm not going to punch Insanity's fucking lights out."


	20. Regroup

" _Motherfu-!_ "

  
Insanity was cut off by Dayd sucker punching him in the face. Stumbling back, he growled at the figment before him. Dayd and Teal had gone through the door to the dark side, alerting Insanity to their presence. What Insanity didn't know was that while he was busy dealing with them, the others were sneaking in during the fight.

  
Anger quickly led the group to Insanity's room, where his lab was. Upon opening the door, the others were shocked by what they saw. The makeshift operating tables were stained with blood, pinned to the walls were diagrams of human bodies during each "stage" of the hybridization process, and there were several cages filled with bones and dead rats.

  
Patton went pale at the sight, moving to stand behind Roman, clinging to his arm. He was scared enough by just being here, this made that feeling worse. The prince had a look of disgust on his face as he took in the sight before him. Sure, he had seen his fair share of rather disturbing things in the Imagination but not to this extent. Logan, meanwhile, mentally cursed his morbid curiosity when it came to the diagrams on the walls. Still, he was Logic and this happened to catch his attention.

  
Courage glanced around, his expression unreadable. Carefully stepping through the room, he was followed by Thomas. He gestured for Thomas to look through Insanity's desk for anything useful, while he investigated the cages. With a scowl, he knelt down in front of one and put his hand down.

  
"W-what are you doing, kiddo?" Patton asked, peering over Courage's shoulder. At the moment, it was either keep watch from the doorway with Roman and Anger, or help look through the room. Despite how safe he normally felt with the prince around, Patton just couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that was settling over him.

  
Slowly, something crawled out of the pile of bones, sniffing the air cautiously. Upon for inspection, it turned out to be one of the rats. Courage waited as it approached his hand and investigated for any sign of danger. Once it was sure that it was safe, the rat climbed up onto Courage's hand, letting the side carry it carefully.

  
"Courage, that is not sanitary," Logan said, having witnessed the whole thing.

  
"I have my gloves on, it's fine," Courage muttered. "Did you find anything useful?"

  
"I've found several notebooks detailing Insanity's... _research_ but that is the extent of it," Logan replied.

  
Courage merely hummed in response, "What about you, Thomas?"

  
Thomas looked over, holding up a card, "I found this in his desk. Looks like a key card."

* * *

  
" _I'll fucking kill you both_!"

  
Insanity grabbed Teal's arm, swiftly twisting it enough that the figment let out a shout of pain. Throwing Teal to the floor, Insanity focused his attention on Dayd, the other figment growling in anger. Quickly dodging a punch from Dayd, Insanity responded in turn by punching him in the gut.

  
While Dayd had the wind knocked out of him, Teal got back up and rushed at Insanity. Before the demon realized what was happening, Teal decked him hard enough to cause Insanity to stumble back. "Stay the hell away from him!"

  
Insanity spit blood out of his mouth, wiping what was left on one of his gloves. "You're a little too late to say that," Insanity remarked sarcastically. The demon then lunged at Teal, tackling him to the ground. Teal grunted in pain as his back made contact with the hard floor and glared up at his opponent. With Insanity distracted, Dayd grabbed him, placing him in a choke-hold.

* * *

  
Deceit closed his eyes, trying to ignore the thoughts running through his head. It's not that they were anything bad, per say, it's just that they left him wondering about the future. If - _when_ \- Insanity was defeated...then what? Things couldn't simply go back to the way they once were and if he were to be honest, to himself at least, he wouldn't want them to anyway.

  
He had finally gotten to see Virgil again, had gotten to see that the anxious side was able to find happiness with the Light sides. Ah yes, Patton, Logan, and Roman...at first he was skeptical of them and their friendliness but during all of this, he found that he enjoyed their company just as much as he enjoyed Virgil's. It was a strange feeling but surprisingly, it wasn't unpleasant.

  
_Virgil_...Virgil was strong, Deceit knew this from the moment he met the other side. While he absolutely despised seeing his best friend in such a state of injury, Deceit was confident that Virgil would recover. The anxious side recovered from the first... _incident_ caused by Insanity, he would survive this one.

  
Then there were the figments. The lying side had no qualms with them and to his own surprise, he realized that he wouldn't mind getting to know them after all is said and done. ' _Courage always did try to encourage Virgil and I to socialize outside of the dark side of the mindscape, I suppose._ '

  
With a start, Deceit looked up when he heard a door open. He and the three figments expected it to be Insanity. However, the minute he saw Anger, confusion set in. " _Pops!?_ "

  
Anger appeared in front of the cell, a scowl forming upon seeing the shackles keeping Deceit and Andy there. His temper towards Insanity began to rise once he saw the new wound on the scaled side of Deceit's face. "Hold on lads, we'll get you out."

  
"Hey don't forget us!" Remy yelled out from the other cell.

  
"Don't worry, Remy, we're not," Logan said. He walked over to the other end of the room where a computer was located, attached to the wall. Quickly, he began typing on the keyboard, concentrating on the task before him.

  
"Logan's here too?" Deceit asked, confused as to how they got here without incurring Insanity's wrath.

  
Anger nodded, "Yeah. The others are keeping watch just outside."

  
Andy spoke up, "How the hell did you get past Insanity?"

  
"Insanity is being distracted by Teal and Dayd," Logan replied, still focused on the task at hand.

  
" _WHAT?!_ " All three of the figments shouted this at once, effectively startling the three sides. With one final accidental tap of a button on the keyboard, the computer shut down and the cells were unlocked, as were the shackles.

* * *

  
Insanity grabbed Dayd and Teal by the collars of their shirts and held them up to his face. "I've had enough of the two of you." With a growl, he threw them both to the ground and began gathering energy, intending on repeating his attack from earlier, with better results this time. However, he was suddenly tackled to the ground and felt a stabbing pain in his arm.

  
"You stay the fuck away from my family!" Andy growled down at Insanity. He pulled his switchblade out of Insanity's arm and aimed it at the demon's chest. Acting quickly, Insanity grabbed Andy's wrist and twisted it until the blade was dropped. Andy pulled his wrist free with a hiss of pain. In that moment, Insanity took the opportunity to kick Andy off of him and stood up.

  
"I don't know how the hell you escaped but it will be the _last_ thing you ever do," Insanity threatened. He took off his gloves, revealing his sharp claws, "I'll make sure of _that_."

  
"You can't take us all on at once, _demon_."

  
Insanity looked back over his shoulder, his eye twitching at the voice he heard. " _Courage_."

  
Courage merely glared at the demon, Anger and Deceit standing on either side of him. Behind them were Pryce, Remy, and Roman, the three looking ready to do whatever it took to end Insanity's madness. Logan and Patton had their pistol and bow, respectively, in hand while Thomas had a shield that Roman conjured up for him. The three came up with a plan on the way to the dark side of the mindscape; Logan and Patton would help the others through the use of their long-ranged weapons and Thomas would use his shield to protect the two in turn.

  
Insanity merely started laughing, "Well, it looks like the fun is over sooner than I expected. Still, I'm going to _enjoy_ this!"


	21. Showdown

"DIE!"

  
Insanity ducked out of the way of a punch from Anger, his glowing red eyes narrowing. He grabbed Anger's arm and twisted it, claws digging into his skin, causing him to bleed slightly. "Not today and certainly not by your hand. You've caused me more than enough trouble to last a lifetime, you _brainless brute_."

  
With a growl, Anger pulled himself free, ignoring the shooting pain that came from Insanity's claws dragging themselves down his arm. Seeing an opportunity, Insanity lunged at Anger immediately after, knocking him to the ground. Anger let out a yell despite himself, feeling the demon's claws dragging down his back and his tank top getting covered in his own blood.

  
"Get the hell away from him!" Insanity looked up in enough time to see a boot in his line of sight. Before he could register anything else, Courage had kicked him into one of the walls of the commons. Courage quickly knelt down next to Anger, his heart racing as he looked over the wounds. "Aiden?!"

  
Anger groaned in pain as he tried to get up. "Where's that son of a bitch? I'll kill 'em!"

  
Courage heard a yell and looked up long enough to see Deceit and Remy keeping Insanity distracted, the two leading him towards the door in an effort to get him outside, away from the cramped confines of the house. Focusing back on Anger, Courage conjured up a first aid kit. He knew that Anger would need stitches for the wounds to heal properly but for now, he could at least stop the bleeding temporarily.

  
Once the three were outside, things escalated into a full two-on-one fight. Insanity taunted them while dodging and blocking their attacks. The demon disappeared, quickly reappearing behind Remy, kicking him in the back. "Pathetic! All that caffeine must have made you delusional if you think you can stand a chance against me!"

  
Remy grunted as he got up, fumbling to get his sunglasses back on properly. "Son of a bitch!"

  
While Insanity was focused on Remy, Deceit rushed towards the demon. Insanity looked over and quickly put his arm up, blocking a punch from the lying side. However, what he didn't expect was Deceit suddenly biting down on his arm, fangs puncturing the skin. Sure, he made sure that Deceit wouldn't be mixed with a venomous snake during his experiment but those fangs still packed a punch when needed.  
"Let go, you fucking _failed experiment_!" Insanity raised his free arm, claws gleaming in the air, and swiped at Deceit. Deceit quickly let go in a slight panic and jumped away from Insanity's claws.

During this, Remy got up and leaped onto Insanity's back, holding his arms around the demon's neck. Growling, Insanity grabbed Remy's arms and forcefully broke his hold before slamming him into the ground in front of him. Remy let out a yell of pain as his back connected with the ground while Insanity spoke, "One of those other figments tried to do the exact same thing. Two for two it is then."

  
Suddenly, Insanity felt blood staining his clothes as pain shot up the arm Deceit had bitten. Jumping away to put some distance between himself and his opponents, he looked down and saw a large slash across his arm. Glaring, he looked up and saw Pryce helping Remy up while Roman had a sword in hand, the blade covered with blood. Nearby, he saw the others rallied around outside.

  
"You've caused enough suffering, you vile fiend!" Roman shouted at Insanity, ready to charge at him, his sword held tightly in his hands.

  
Insanity merely laughed at the prince, "I don't think-!" He stopped mid-sentence upon seeing who was staying near the back of the group with Logan and Patton. His pupils dilated as he saw his ultimate target... " _You_!" Everyone froze as they realized that Insanity caught sight of their host. A sudden, tense silence filled the air; the only sound they heard was Insanity saying Thomas's name in a demented, sing-song way.

  
" _Thomas_... I've been looking for _you_." The demon started laughing maniacally, the mere sound of it enough to chill a person down to the bone.

  
Thomas paled at that but still gripped onto the shield he was holding. This... _thing_ had harmed too many of his friends in its goal of reaching him. They willingly put their lives on the line to stop this monster. He couldn't just back down now, not when they needed him most. "...I'm not afraid of you!"

  
The demon tilted his head, eyes never leaving Thomas's gaze. "Oh really? Well, you should be." Insanity disappeared once more, reappearing behind the group. Before any of them could react, Insanity lunged at Thomas, his claws and teeth barred, his eyes becoming pitch black.

  
"Stay away from my family!"

  
Insanity was knocked back by a forceful kick to the chest. He stumbled as he ended up winded from the force of the attack. Steadying himself, he looked up and roared with anger, "YOU?!"

  
Standing in front of Thomas, an arm thrown protectively in front of the host, was...

  
"VIRGIL?!"

  
Virgil shot a death glare at the demon, refusing to let any unhealed injuries stop him from protecting those close to him.

* * *

  
As the fighting waged on, the others did their best to keep Insanity away from Thomas. Thomas, in turn, did his best to shield the others from any and all of Insanity's ranged attacks. Despite this, Insanity still had the upper hand.

  
Logan was the one who noticed it. With every injury that drew blood, the bleeding would eventually cease and be replaced with what could only be described as shadow-like tendrils. As more and more tendrils appeared, the more and more demonic-looking Insanity's form became.

  
"Hehehe. You idiots don't get it, do you?" Insanity said as he drop-kicked both Pryce and Remy. "This body is nothing more than a useless shell to me now! Go ahead, keep attacking it!" This was followed by more maniacal laughing.

  
While Insanity was laughing, Patton took the chance to shoot an arrow, aiming at the demon's chest. He had enough of this monster hurting his family. Unfortunately, due to inexperience, the arrow didn't hit its intended target area. It did, however, hit Insanity in the leg.

  
Logan and Thomas stared at Patton in amazed disbelief. Patton stared back at them, a nervous look on his face. "I-uh, I know that was unusual coming from me but..."

  
Logan nodded his head in understanding, "Desperate times, Patton."

  
"Yeah," Thomas quickly agreed.

  
Suddenly, Insanity disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving almost everyone confused. Courage, however, looked terrified as he clung to Anger's arm. " _Oh no_..." He watched as the smoke began to reform into a purely demonic being, no traces of human features in sight. This was the monster he lost the previous fight to, the monster that took control of him.

  
"Oh, is it _good_ to be back!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only the start of the final fight.


	22. Final Fight - Part 1

' _Come on, ya gotta think of something!_ ' Andy glared at the demon before them. Tension lingered in the air as Insanity gloated. ' _I'm not-wait! The door to..._ ' A determined look flashed across his eyes as he saw the door connecting the dark side of the mindscape to the Imagination was open. ' _Now or never!_ '

  
"Hey fuckface!"

  
Insanity growled and snapped his head to look at who said that. The minute he did, he was met with a swift kick to the face by Andy. Taken aback briefly, Insanity raised his claw to attack Andy, only to notice the figment was no longer there.

  
"You gonna fight me or are you too much of a coward?!" Andy was now standing in front of the open door. His glare was matched by Insanity, who lunged at him, while the others stood back, shocked at what the figment was doing. The minute Insanity was close enough, Andy ducked out of the way, causing the demon to land in the Imagination. "I've had it up to here with you, bitch."

  
"The hell does Andy think he's doing?!" Remy yelled as he watched the scene unfold.

  
"The same thing he's always done, taking matters into his own hands," Teal answered, worry evident on his face.

* * *

  
Insanity was furious by this point. Andy kept ducking and dodging, all the while throwing trash talk at the demon. The demon rushed at Andy, tackling him to the ground. Raising his fist up, he aimed a punch at Andy's face, only to be shocked by his fist meeting the ground. "What the fuck?!"

  
Andy suddenly reappeared nearby, catching his breath. "Shit, forgot how much energy goes into teleporting."

  
The demon growled as he looked back at Andy. He could see a faint red and black aura surrounding the figment. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke, "You have the potential to be a decent fighter with that kind of power. Too bad you're never going to get the chance to reach it." With that, Insanity caught Andy off guard by rushing at him and sucker punching him, resuming their fight.

  
Once the others managed to catch up to the two, they saw Insanity had a hand around Andy's neck. Andy struggled to free himself as the demon lifted him into the air. Right before Insanity could stab the figment with his free hand, a gun shot was heard and Andy was dropped to the ground. A bullet managed to hit the demon's arm and Insanity slowly turned his head in the direction it came from.

  
Logan stood before the others, pistol in hand and aimed at Insanity. Insanity sneered at the logical side, "well, well, talk about false bravado." He was met with another bullet to his arm in response. While Insanity was distracted, Teal and Remy quickly sneaked over to Andy, helping their leader up.

  
"I ain't fucking done with him yet," Andy muttered, glaring at the demon.

* * *

  
Insanity looked around the battlefield, deciding who to torment next. He had quickly destroyed the logical side's gun and the moral side's bow during the chaos. With them being rendered at the bottom of his "potential threat list" currently, he turned his focus to Roman. ' _Of course! How could I forget? He was going to be my test subject before I decided on ol' snake-face instead, after all._ '

  
Having decided on his next target, Insanity disappeared into smoke, leaving the others waiting on edge for his reappearance. Out of the shadows, Insanity appeared behind the group and blasted the ground with dark energy, creating large cracks and craters, forcing them to scatter. Insanity then seized his opportunity and tackled Roman to the ground, watching in amusement as his sword ended up just out of the prince's reach.

  
" _Roman_!" Insanity rolled his eyes as the others began trying to make their way over to the two as quickly as possible.

  
Roman struggled to get Insanity off of him but the demon merely grabbed his wrists, pinning them above the prince's head. "Unhanded me you vile fiend!" The prince growled out, not giving up without a fight.

  
Insanity merely grinned down at Roman, laughing quietly. "You know pretty boy, you were gonna be one of my test subjects at one point."

  
Roman paled at that thought before growling defiantly, " _Liar!_ "

  
"Who do you take me for, hmm? Deceit?" Insanity's grinned changed into a smirk, "Ooooh, that's right! The only reason that never came to pass is because I chose to experiment on Deceit instead! If it weren't for him being in the right place at the right time, you would have suffered in his place!"

  
Roman appeared shocked as the words sunk in, before renewing his struggle against Insanity, refusing to give up, "I shall have to speak with him once you're vanquished then, bastard!"

  
"Keep dreaming," Insanity looked amused as Roman yelled in pain, his claws slowly dragging down the prince's chest, drawing blood.

  
Insanity was suddenly knocked away from the prince by both Virgil and Deceit. Patton and Thomas helped Roman sit up carefully while Logan opened the first aid kit from earlier. While they were taking care of Roman's injuries, the two dark sides nodded at each other, teaming up to fight Insanity.

  
They both held their own against the demon, Deceit more so than Virgil due to the latter's injuries. "You _shouldn't_ have stayed where you were, Virgil," Deceit muttered loud enough for the other side to hear.

  
Virgil ducked down when Insanity tried to scratch him with his claws. In response, Insanity was met with a punch to the gut. He was then kicked backwards by Deceit. "And let you guys get killed by that monster? I don't think so De-," Virgil was cut off.

  
" _Mendax_ ," Deceit said, watching as Pryce and Dayd took their chances in attacking Insanity. ' _Anything to weaken that demon at this point_.'

  
"What?" Virgil stared at him in confusion.

  
"You told me your name," Deceit kept his eyes on the fight, ready to step in again, "so now I told you mine."

  
The minute Insanity had his hands full dealing with Pryce and Dayd was the minute Courage stepped into the fray. He nodded at the two figments and they understood what it meant. Those two would keep Insanity distracted while Courage attacked him.

  
It worked well enough that the others got a brief moment to start regrouping. However, almost as soon as they did, Insanity decided he had enough toying with them. Insanity once more attempted to attack his primary target - Thomas. To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Thomas that Insanity managed to harm.

  
Patton yelled in pain as he gripped his arm, blood dripping down from claw marks left by Insanity. The moral side had been the first to see Insanity's attack coming and his fatherly instincts kicked in, pushing Thomas out of the way just in time. Other than Insanity, they all stared in shock. Virgil quickly snapped out of it and ran over to Patton; Roman, Logan, and Thomas following shortly after.

  
Deceit looked over to where Insanity was, fury burning in his eyes. Insanity was taken aback when Deceit suddenly appeared in front of him, a fiery yellow and black aura surrounding him. In that moment, Insanity was punched hard enough to stun him briefly. Regaining his senses, Insanity glared at Deceit. "Same as that upstart "leader" of the figments. All this potential with that kind of power, only for you to never reach it."

  
Deceit growled at Insanity while all the others looked at him with a mixture of confusion and concern; all the others except for Anger, Andy, and Courage. "I'll fucking kill you."

  
Insanity smirked, "I'd like to see you try, _freak_."


	23. Final Fight - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that inspired and appears throughout this chapter is Figure 8 by Trust Company.

_See that face from across the room_   
_And I can feel you're nothing_   
_Show your face it's not hard to see_   
_Intention's pale it's blinding_

  
Insanity smirked, having teleported himself and Deceit to a rocky, mountainous area of the Imagination. His amusement grew as he saw the confusion on the side's face.

  
"Where are we?" Deceit demanded to know, glaring at the demon.

  
"Simple: We're still in the Imagination," Insanity replied. "You think you can take me down? Then prove it - without the others interfering."

  
_Stop (stop) from the place I've been_   
_No good for the shape I'm in_   
_I'm slow to the race you win_   
_You want to take me out_

  
Deceit growled and rushed at Insanity, aiming a punch at the smug demon's face. However, Insanity blocked the punch with his hand, catching Deceit off guard. The lying side was then greeted by a knee to his stomach, followed by an elbow to his back. "Argh!"

  
Insanity watched with sick glee as Deceit hit the ground. Walking over, he put his foot down on the side's back once he started to get up. Laughing as Deceit let out a yell, the demon taunted him, "And here I thought you'd be an actual threat! But no, you're just your typical lying self!"

  
_Stop (stop) with your face off in_   
_My space and the wicked descend_   
_No taste for the place I'm in_   
_You need to stop... Stop!_

  
Deceit let out a growl and focused, teleporting behind Insanity. As soon as he reappeared, Deceit punched the demon square in the jaw. "Shut the fuck up for once in your life."

  
Insanity growled in pain and glared at Deceit. Within moments, they were giving it their all in this fight. With every punch and kick came a duck and dodge as tempers flared. The demon pinned Deceit to the ground, only to be sent flipping over him with some quick thinking and leg work.

  
_I am all you need to know_   
_And I'm everywhere you go_   
_No one can save you now_   
_When it all comes around_

  
Every time Insanity teleported around the battlefield, Deceit would appear immediately after. This game of cat and mouse escalated when, with every teleport, they'd attack each other before disappearing again. Despite the injuries both of them were sustaining, neither opponent relented.

  
Deceit blocked a punch with his hand and growled, "Not so tough now are you, hell-spawn?"

  
"I'm just getting started," Insanity sneered at him. He then aimed a kick at Deceit's side, only to miss when Deceit let go of his fist, dodging out of the way.

  
_I am everything you see_   
_And I'm what you'll never be_   
_No one can save you now_   
_When it all comes around_

  
After time spent making sure wounds weren't bleeding, at least, and searching high and low, the others eventually tracked down Deceit and Insanity. Both fighters were still giving it their all, hatred burning in their eyes for the other.

  
Anger growled, "We gotta do something to end this!"

  
Weary glances were cast at Anger. They knew he was right but so far, nothing they did resulted in any lasting damage to Insanity. No one said anything more but a glimpse of determination flashed across Courage's eyes.

  
Insanity appeared behind Deceit, quick enough to catch him off guard. With dark energy surrounding his hand, he clawed at Deceit's back, enjoying the shout that came from the side. As pain surged through his back, Deceit elbowed Insanity in the ribs before teleporting a short distance away from the demon.

  
_Show your face and stare at me_   
_And I can feel you glaring_   
_Showing up and preparing me_   
_You're the one I'll bury_

  
Just as Insanity was about to rush at Deceit again, he was interrupted by a kick to the back that sent him crashing into the rocky terrain. Insanity growled as he got up, " _Who_ -?!"

  
Deceit looked up, shock on his face, "Courage?!"

  
Courage walked over to Insanity, a quiet fury surrounding him. The minute Courage was close enough, Insanity attacked him with dark energy. Appearing to be impossibly calm, Courage dodged the attack and glared at the demon.

  
_Stop (stop) from the place I've been_   
_No good for the shape I'm in_   
_I'm slow to the race you win_   
_You want to take me out_

  
In a moment, the two arch-enemies were facing off in battle. At first, Courage seemed to have the upper hand during the fight. However, Insanity was able to throw him for a loop.

  
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or are you just that _afraid_ _of_ _me_?" Insanity mocked him, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.

  
Courage growled in pain, trying to free himself, "Like...hell if...I'm afraid...of _you_!"

  
Insanity leaned into his ear before speaking, "I _know_ you are. I saw you as I was freed once more. You're utterly _terrified_ of me."

  
_Stop (stop) with your face off in_   
_My space and the wicked descend_   
_No taste for the place I'm in_   
_You need to stop... Stop!_

  
Closing his eyes, Courage focused his thoughts on freeing himself over what Insanity was saying. "Argh!" Courage suddenly twisted his arm enough to free himself and punched Insanity square in the face, causing the demon to stumble backwards. Insanity spit blood out of his mouth and barred his teeth as a warning.

  
Courage glared right back at Insanity, undeterred by the demon. The minute Courage moved just slightly, Insanity lunged at him. However, Courage was relying on that to happen and teleported out of the way. Immediately, Insanity was met with a boot to the chest as Deceit kicked him.

  
_And I am all you need to know_   
_And I'm everywhere you go_   
_No one can save you now_   
_When it all comes around_

  
Although Insanity would never admit it out loud, he was starting to feel the results of this fight. His breath was coming out in pants, his chest and back were most likely bruised by this point, and he could feel blood dripping down his forehead. Still, he had come to far to give up now. He would take Courage and Deceit down, one way or another.

  
Teleporting behind Deceit, Insanity grabbed his cape and used it to begin strangling the lying side. He expected to hear the delightful choking and coughing coming from Deceit. What he didn't, however, was a sudden stabbing pain in the back of his shoulder. Letting go of Deceit's cape, he looked back and saw Andy there, his grip firmly on his switchblade. "You again?!"

  
_And I am everything you see_   
_And I'm what you'll never be_   
_No one can save you now_   
_When it all comes around_

  
"That's right bitch," Andy taunted the demon before kicking him away, removing the switchblade at the same time. "You messed with the _wrong_ fucking people."

  
Insanity growled and spun around to face Andy, claws swiping at him in a blind rage. Andy quickly ducked and held his weapon up. The demon didn't even realize what Andy was trying to do until pain was felt in one of his palms. He was met with a smirk from the figment as he saw the blade stuck in his hand. "And people say my switchblade isn't that useful," Andy remarked, pulling the blade free before putting some distance between himself and Insanity.

  
_Take you down_   
_Leave you fallen faceless_   
_Hurt and leave you down_   
_Fall, break you now_   
_Leave you fallen faceless_   
_Hurt and take you down_   
_Want to take you down_

  
Insanity glanced at his surroundings. Deceit, Courage, and Andy were all ready for any sudden movement from the demon. This only served to enrage him further. He had come too far to be stopped by a handful of upstarts. Deciding on who to target at the moment, the demon chose to deal with the one who started all of this.

  
Before anyone could take in what just happened, Insanity appeared behind Courage and stabbed him in the back with his claws. Grinning sadistically at the yell of pain, Insanity pulled his claws out and got ready to slash the back of his neck, only to be tackled to the ground instead. When Insanity looked up, he was met with a hard punch to the face from Anger.

  
_I am all you need to know_   
_I am everywhere you go_   
_No one can save you now_   
_When it all comes around_

  
Anger roughly picked Insanity up by his wrists and threw him into the side of one of the nearby mountains. Before Insanity could get back up, Anger was standing over him in an instant. He then grabbed Insanity's arms and yanked him up hard so he could stare into the demon's eyes. "Who's the _brainless brute_ , now?"

  
Insanity's eyes widened and he struggled to free himself from Anger's grip. "You son of a bitch! I'll fucking kill you if it's the last thing I do!"

  
"Not now, not today, _not ever_."

  
_I am everything you see_   
_I am what you'll never be_   
_No one can save you now_   
_When it all comes around_

  
Anger let go of Insanity, jumping back the minute the demon tried to bite him. Still, Anger refused to give up, not when victory was so very close. He drop-kicked Insanity and forcefully stomped his foot down on the demon's back repeatedly. Each crack of bone he heard was like music to his ears.

  
Seeing a particularly sharp jagged rock sticking out of one of the mountains, an idea came to Anger's mind. He stepped back from Insanity, picking him up by his neck as roughly as possible. With a look devoid of anything other than rage, Anger glared at the gasping demon. "Any last words before I put you out of _our_ misery once and for all?"

  
Insanity glared right back at him, clawing weakly at Anger's hands. "I _swear_ by the Lord of Darkness, I _will_ be back!"

  
Anger sneered at him, "Yeah, I really fucking doubt that." As Anger readied himself, he spoke one last time to Insanity, "This is for all the fucked up shit you've ever done." Throwing all his strength into this, Anger threw Insanity as hard as he could at the jagged rock, watching as the demon was impaled instantly. He watched with cold eyes as Insanity took one last dying breath, thankful that the nightmare was finally over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The nightmare may be over, but the story isn't just yet. We still got an aftermath to sort through.


	24. A New Beginning

_-Thomas-_

  
Once everyone was back at the light side of the mindscape, Thomas looked around at his family. Patton, despite his own injuries, was fussing over Virgil due to that stunt he pulled while he was the worst injured of them. Logan was trying to get Patton to sit down and rest his injured arm; they'd just gotten it bandaged up properly and the logical side didn't want him to accidentally make it worse. As for Roman, he was inadvertently making both Virgil and Deceit blush with all the compliments of how brave and heroic they both were. Though, Thomas noted, it was without his usual gusto due to the prince's own injuries limiting him at the moment.

  
Deceit... Thomas will admit that when he first heard of the lying side during that time spent in the library, he didn't know what to think. Lying wasn't something that Thomas initially wanted to accept was a part of himself so that, he was willing to admit, clouded his first thoughts about the side. Seeing Deceit lay his life on the line just to save everyone from Insanity changed his opinion of the lying side for the better.

  
Then there was Anger and Courage. Anger was laying on one of the couches, his head in Courage's lap. Courage was running his hand through Anger's hair and down his back, careful of the injuries. "You alright, love?" Courage asked him quietly.

  
Anger grunted in response, "Shit's gonna be hurtin' like hell for a while. More concerned about you though."

  
Courage scratched the nape of Anger's neck, causing the other side to let out a low purring sound. "I'll be fine as long as I have you around, Aiden."

  
Thomas smiled at the sight, happy that the two were reunited. He then turned his sight over to the figments. Dayd and Teal were cuddled up together, both exhausted from their own fight with Insanity. Near them, Andy and Pryce were huddled around Remy, the three of them watching Vine compilations on Youtube as a way to relax. It was then that Thomas realized exactly how long he'd been in the mindscape. Seeing as they were all okay for now, Thomas said his goodbyes and returned to the real world.

  
_-Logan, Roman, Patton, Virgil, and Deceit-_

  
The five of them had eventually retired to the room Deceit remembered first waking up in at the start of this mess. He had learned that it was the shared bedroom of the other four, one that had no particular influence on them. What he didn't know is why they had insisted that they needed to speak in private with him. His confusion grew as one by one, they enveloped him in a group hug.

  
Once they let go, stepping back to give him space, Deceit spoke truthfully, too tired to actively lie at the moment, "Not that I'm complaining but what was that for?"

  
"For everything!" Patton exclaimed cheerfully, "You helped save everyone from that creepy monster! You're a hero!"

  
Deceit blushed slightly at the compliment, not seeing himself as a hero. He just saw himself as someone protecting his family. His blushing increased after Logan spoke, the logical side agreeing with Patton, "You're _our_ hero, Deceit."

  
He glanced around at the room, trying to ignore the rising heat in his face. "Thanks...I guess? I don't see why you insisted on telling me this in private..."

  
"It's not exactly the only thing..." Virgil trailed off, scratching the back of his head nervously. Deceit would have brushed that off as Virgil being his typical self, if it weren't for the fact that the anxious side was now blushing as well. Blinking in confusion, he looked at the others and saw that they too were red in the face.

  
Roman cleared his throat and stepped forward, taking Deceit's hands in his own. "What we wanted to say is that, during this adventure, the four of us have developed feelings for _you_."

  
Deceit was surprised by what the prince just told him. Upon seeing his expression, Logan spoke up, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Roman is correct, Deceit. At first, we thought these were simply feelings of admiration but it turned out that was only the start."

  
Immediately, Patton was hugging him again, the moral side's chin resting on his other shoulder. "We love you Deceit and we just want you to be happy."

  
"I..." Deceit didn't know what to say or even think. He felt both happy and nervous at once and it was throwing him off.

  
Seeming to sense what his fellow Dark Side was feeling at the moment, Virgil gave him a comforting smile. Looking at Virgil's eyes, he could see the same emotion he saw in the others: _love_. Taking a deep breath, Deceit wrapped his arms around Patton, a smile starting to tug at his face, "I...I love you too. All of you."

  
Once more, Deceit was pulled into a group hug, this time reciprocating the affection. In what felt like a blink of the eye, they were all suddenly laying on the bed. Deceit smiled as he got comfortable in the cuddle pile, feeling warm, safe, loved. He could definitely get used to this. However, there was one more thing he needed to get out into the open.

  
"There's something I want to tell you," Deceit said.

  
The other four looked at him, wondering what he was going to say, although Virgil had a faint idea of what it was. "What is it, love? You can tell us anything," Roman replied.

  
"My name - my real name. It's Mendax," Deceit answered, noting the look on Virgil's face was that of a grin.

  
Patton tilted his head, "Mendax?"

  
"It's Latin," Logan added, "it's literal translation into English is _Liar_."

  
"Leave it to Specs to know something like that," Roman snickered as Logan rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

  
Patton just smiled and cuddled closer into Deceit's side, "I don't care what it means, I think it's a nice name."

  
The other three nodded their heads in agreement before settling back down. As they all began to drift off, Patton spoke one more time, "The others are living here with us from now on."

They were too tired to question Patton's sudden decision so they all just mumbled agreements to what he said.

  
Finally, there was peace once more in the mindscape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left to go and that will be the epilogue.


	25. Epilogue

True to his word, Patton insisted on their new friends living with them from now on. They had all been through so much and the thought of them all going their separate ways once more was one that none of them truly wanted to confront. After all, with everything they'd been through together, to save each other and Thomas, they were a part of this family now.

  
Anger had been the first to accept the invitation to stay. There would be no reason left for him to stay over on the dark side of the mindscape with both Virgil and Deceit gone. Courage agreed once Anger did; he'd turned down all the offers from the Light Sides in the past because he wanted to stay with Anger and his "kids". Now, that wouldn't be a problem.

  
The Figments were initially hesitant of the offer. The Imagination was their home for so long and they had sworn among themselves to protect it. It was Remy who agreed first; he already spent so much time hanging around the Light Sides that this part of the mindscape was like a second home to him.

  
While protecting the Imagination was important to them, it was pointed out that they could still stay here. The door connecting the Imagination to this side of the mindscape was close enough that they could check up on things whenever they wanted. Remy also threw in a remark that living here was a lot better than living in an abandoned warehouse. That, of course, ended up causing a slew of questions and concerns about what the current living conditions of the Figments were like. After some discussion, and a minor squabble between Remy and Andy, the other Figments came around to the idea.

  
Despite everything, things had turned out better than any of them expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a wild ride but we're finally at the end of this tale. That doesn't mean this AU is over with though. I have plenty of ideas for one-shots and chaptered fics in the future.


End file.
